A preeminent classics scholar revises the history of medicine.Medical thinking and observation were radically changed by the ancient Greeks, one of their great legacies to the world. In the fifth century BCE, a Greek doctor put forward his clinical observations of individual men, women, and children in a collection of case histories known as the Epidemics. Among his working principles was the famous maxim "Do no harm." In The Invention of Medicine, acclaimed historian Robin Lane Fox puts these remarkable works in a wider context and upends our understanding of medical history by establishing that they were written much earlier than previously thought. Lane Fox endorses the ancient Greeks' view that their texts' author, not named, was none other than the father of medicine, the great Hippocrates himself. Lane Fox's argument changes our sense of the development of scientific and rational thinking in Western culture, and he explores the consequences for Greek artists, dramatists and the first writers of history. Hippocrates emerges as a key figure in the crucial change from an archaic to a classical world. Elegantly written and remarkably learned, The Invention of Medicine is a groundbreaking reassessment of many aspects of Greek culture and city life.
In a universe filled by chaos and disorder, one physicist makes the radical argument that the growth of order drives the passage of time -- and shapes the destiny of the universe. Time is among the universe's greatest mysteries. Why, when most laws of physics allow for it to flow forward and backward, does it only go forward? Physicists have long appealed to the second law of thermodynamics, held to predict the increase of disorder in the universe, to explain this. In The Janus Point, physicist Julian Barbour argues that the second law has been misapplied and that the growth of order determines how we experience time. In his view, the big bang becomes the "Janus point," a moment of minimal order from which time could flow, and order increase, in two directions. The Janus Point has remarkable implications: while most physicists predict that the universe will become mired in disorder, Barbour sees the possibility that order -- the stuff of life -- can grow without bound. A major new work of physics, The Janus Point will transform our understanding of the nature of existence.
The first biography in a quarter century of the intellectual father of Southern secession
A respected educator offers a completely new, scientifically-based solution to every teacher's biggest problem: getting students to pay attention
From a New York Times-bestselling author, a sweeping history of the American West
Dogs in verse -- from Homer to Wordsworth to Gwendolyn Brooks
The next generation of robots will be truly social. How can we make sure that they play well in the sandbox?
From Aristotle's Physics to quantum teleportation, the story of the pursuit of causes that happen faster than the speed of light
An essential guide for parents navigating the new frontier of hyper-connected kids
A parenting expert reveals the four biggest threats to girls' psychological growth and explains how parents can help their daughters develop a healthy sense of self
From an award-winning historian, the outlandish story of the man who gave rights to animals
A new history of the Roman Republic and its collapse
The definitive history of presidential lying, revealing how our standards for truthfulness have eroded -- and what makes Trump's lies especially dangerous
A smart, opinionated appreciation of the woman who rescued Great Britain from socialism and proved that American-style conservatism could work around the world.
A leading conservative intellectual defends charter schools against the teachers' unions, politicians and liberal educators who threaten to dismantle their success
The groundbreaking examination of the construction of sexual identity -- now updated to reflect the latest research
Reissued with a new preface: the Pulitzer Prize-winning book that is "quite simply the best book ever written on the Scopes Trial and its place in American history and myth."
From an award-winning scholar, a vibrant portrait of a riotous age in the history of the feminist movement
A dual biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King that transforms our understanding of the twentieth century's most iconic African American leaders
How the idea of the West drove twentieth-century US foreign policy, how it fell from favor, and why it is worth saving
The fascinating three-thousand-year history of the census, revealing why the true boundaries of any nation today aren't lines on a map but columns in a census tabulation
The first biography of Missy Meloney, the most important woman you've never heard of
From an award-winning historian, a "vivid" account of the revolution that created the modern world (Wall Street Journal)
Written to help the business person gain a grammatical advantage on his or her competition, "Working with Words in Business and Legal Writing" is a quick and complete guide to writing clear and concise e-mails, letters, and reports.
"a revealing look at the dark underbelly of our rapidly advancing electronics"-Salon.com
A beautiful and surprising exploration of a phenomenon that is at once familiar and baffling: the mystery of why birds sing.
An original and timely analysis of one of the country's most contentious issues: the hard right turn taken by the federal courts, and why balance must be restored to the judiciary branch
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