Benjamin Soames breathes life into this chronological compendium of men and women who dramatically changed the practice of preventing, diagnosing and treating illness and disease. His crisp English accent is easy on the American ear and gives an air of scholarliness to the production. From Hippocrates (460u2013370 BC) to modern DNA explorers Crick and Watson, the audiobook details groundbreaking medical pioneers and their advances in areas such as scientific methodology, sterilisation, vaccination and the human genome. Period music provides transitions to each new segment. Despite a lack of dialogue and a minimum of quotations, Soames conveys a fascination with his topic that is infectious.

Anyone who thinks that the history of treating disease and injury is destined to be a boring listen will be remarkably impressed with this presentation. Beginning with Hippocrates in Ancient Greece followed by the work of the Roman Galen, this title chronicles the incredible developments in medicine through the centuries with astounding details and entertaining facts interspersed throughout. Highlights include Ibn Sinau2019s path to writing The Canon of Medicine, which was the most popular medical textbook in the world for centuries; the Renaissance-era anatomical investigations of Andreas Vesalius; William Harveyu2019s detailed descriptions of the circulation of blood; and Alexander Flemingu2019s accidental discovery of penicillin. This audio presentation comes up to the 20th century with the work of Francis Crick, James Watson, and Rosalind Franklin in determining the structure of DNA. Finally, the audiobook concludes with an overview of the many fast-paced medical advances that are occurring in the present. Reader Benjamin Soames brings energy, excitement, and even an element of fun to this detailed publication. His pacing is appropriately varied to increase interest, and his own enthusiasm for the topic really shines through. Highly recommended.