ABSTRACT
The glamour of medicine, such as the achievements of Harvey, Pasteur, Koch and Fleming, must be told; but it is also necessary to show - all in a few pages of non-technical language - that these striking achievements did not arise in a vacuum, but stemmed from a complicated interplay of education, observation, technical development and the nebulous gift of originality. The shortcomings of an unbalanced text are, not surprisingly, more evident in short illustrated general histories, though some authors have made valiant efforts to overcome the severe restrictions on space. The real value of illustrations is seen in the longer works, especially Jean Starobinski's A History of Medicine, which should appeal to all 16- to 18-year-olds.
