Doctors on Horseback: Pioneers of American Medicine Book

In this collection of biographies Flexner combines curious medical lore with the intrerst of little-known facts of early American history. The brilliant scientists he profiles are not household names, but are known well to doctors: Morgan, who founded the first medical school in America, and, fighting beside Washington, was ruined by the petty politics of the revolution; McDowell, who, although on the fringe of the wilderness, dared the operation that prepared the way for abdominal surgery; Rush, the equivocal personality who, for better or worse, dominated American medicine for more than fifty years; Beaumont, who, saving a life, won a living laborotory; Drake, who brought modern medicine to the new west; Long and Morton, who banished pain from surgery and earned it for themselves. All these men are honored in their profession today. Flexner documents their lives with sympathy and humor and brings to the forefront the contributions they made to their profession and their country.Read More