This book is brilliant and wise, full of unexpected insights, and a delight to read! It is the kind of rare book that only a practicing scientist with a deep awareness of medicine, therapeutics, politics, and societies can write. A materialist framework is critical for understanding the history of any science, and this book is the most astute of any book I have read on the history of medicine. The science of physiology and the art of healing are merged in medicine, and the author truly grasps the significance of both. Professor Mriganka Sur, PhD FRS Newton Professor of Neuroscience Head, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Director, Simons Initiative on Autism and the Brain Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Health care is riddled with uncertainties that rarely receive adequate public debate. Daya Varma's new book, in culling a wide range of scholarship, offers an analysis of why much uncertainty in both Western and Eastern societies relates to multiple approaches to healing. Varma charges us to examine closely why we have different schools of medicine, their origins and roles in society. As conventional scientific medicine becomes more and more expensive and reliant on technology, Varma's reflections on the origins and sustainability of multiple schools of health care must be part of discussions on the future of health care. J. K. Crellin MD, PhD Honorary Research Professor, Memorial University St. John's, NL A1B 3V6, Canada

Besides finances and the economy, the topic of health is constantly in the media. Reports on advancements in medicine, new diets, beneficial foods, and exercise tips are commonplace. Of specific interest for Christians is that many reports are urging people to adopt healthful practices that God prescribed as the best methods to achieve optimum health. In The Distant Sound of Wisdom, Warren A. Shipton argues that the human race was created for a purpose, which includes the enjoyment of life. The natural laws governing life and well-being include the mind and the body—physical, mental, and spiritual health. Within this volume, Shipton examines the factors that contribute to physical health, including the benefits of a plant-based diet, which is a significant determinant of a long and healthy life. He then moves into a discussion of mental and social health and how individuals can improve in those areas. Finally, he focuses on the importance of spiritual health and a relationship with the Creator of life. The book contains extensive documentation of scientific studies and current research in the areas of health while presenting corresponding biblical truths that affirm the authority of the Bible.

This volume unearths the emerging pattern of consumption of opium in colonial Assam and the creation of drug-dependency in a social context. It analyses the competing forces of the empire which played a key role in the production and distribution of opium; national politics alongside international drug diplomacy and how these together shaped the discourse of opium in Assam; the wider implications of opium production and consumption in the agrarian economy and the narrative of the nationalist critique of intoxication. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This is the first book that analyzes and systematizes all the general ideas of medicine, in particular the philosophical ones, which are usually tacit. Instead of focusing on one or two points — typically disease and clinical trial — this book examines all the salient aspects of biomedical research and practice: the nature of disease; the logic of diagnosis; the discovery and design of drugs; the design of lab and clinical trials; the crafting of therapies and design of protocols; the moral duties and rights of physicians and patients; the distinctive features of scientific medicine and of medical quackery; the unique combination of basic and translational research; the place of physicians and nurses in society; the task of medical sociology; and the need for universal medical coverage. Health care workers, medicine buffs, and philosophers will find this thought-provoking book highly useful in their line of work and research.

Local and indigenous cultures hold certain knowledge and expertise, which have developed and continue to be enhanced over time. Much of these have been adopted into local communities with ease. With the advent of globalisation and modernisation, a large part of this knowledge and expertise is no longer practiced and will gradually be lost if efforts are not taken to preserve, conserve and transfer it to the community. Six chapters of research findings have been documented in this book, bringing together researchers committed to local knowledge in sharing their work particularly the methodology of knowledge transfer. Thus, new ideas are presented to promote the practice of preserving and conserving local knowledge to the practitioners, students and communities.

In this book, Miranda Brown investigates the myths that acupuncturists and herbalists have told about the birth of the healing arts. Moving from the Han (206 BC–AD 220) and Song (960–1279) dynasties to the twentieth century, Brown traces the rich history of Chinese medical historiography and the gradual emergence of the archive of medical tradition. She exposes the historical circumstances that shaped the current image of medical progenitors: the ancient bibliographers, medieval editors, and modern reformers and defenders of Chinese medicine who contributed to the contemporary shape of the archive. Brown demonstrates how ancient and medieval ways of knowing live on in popular narratives of medical history, both in modern Asia and in the West. She also reveals the surprising and often unacknowledged debt that contemporary scholars owe to their pre-modern forebears for the categories, frameworks, and analytic tools with which to study the distant past.