Treating and preventing disease has always been one of the most important tasks in a society, and that task ultimately falls to one of the most respected and admired figures in any culture-the healer. This respect is understandable -medical practictioners ease pain, prolong life, and prevent disesase, making them among the most important figures in the daily lives of people everywhere. The Dictionary of Medical Biography provides authoritative biographical coverage of major medical practitioners in all times and cultures. While its emphasis is on practitioners within the Western medical tradition, it also covers practitioners of alternative medicines, as well as major figures within traditional Chinese, Indian, and Islamic medicine. In addition, special essays survey these medical traditions, which are more difficult to appreciate within a biographical framework. Overall, the Dictionary of Medical Biography concentrates on the nuances of medical practice, and the social context within which ideas of health, disease, and therapy exist.

The most complete work of its kind, the Dictionary of Medical Biography is essential for any library that serves those who seek to understand the importance of medicine in the lives of people everywhere.

W. F. Bynum is Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at University College London and was head of the Academic Unit of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine (1973-1996). His publications include the Dictionary of the History of Science, Science and the Practice of Medicine in the 19th Century, and the Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations.

Helen Bynum is a freelance historian of science and medicine. She was a Wellcome Trust Lecturer in the History of Medicine at Liverpool (1996-2000). Her publications include Tropical Medicine in the 20th Century and Body and City.