Magic, Miracles, And Medicine

About the Book

MIRACLES, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE is a study of medical frustration—the inability of the physician to dispense medicine that worked. Hundreds of biological medications were prescribed but no more than five or six actually improved the patient’s condition. As a result, patients turned to miracles, magicians, witch doctors, astrology, and the church. For almost a thousand years, the church’s answer to disease was prayer. Spirits, angels, and demons lurked everywhere. The Antichrist practiced witchcraft and sorcery, and soothsayers predicted the future. Flagellation was practiced, and magician with their smoke and mirrors, held sway. Among the Romans, cabbage was the cure for all disorders, and eating the herb dittany could extract an arrow. It was only with the age of science that effective medications were discovered. Those practicing witchcraft were accused of intimately consorting with the devil and his demons, even having sex with them.

About the Author

Zachary Friedenberg has lived a varied and adventurous life. After graduating from medical school, he served in World War II as a surgeon in an advanced field hospital in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany and participated in three D-day landings. After his military experience, he joined the staff of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he attained the rank of full professor. His interests were teaching and research. Among other accomplishments, he became a scuba diver and filmed undersea life throughout the world and was also a world traveler, particularly in the Middle East and Asia. He has published numerous books on medical history, including The Doctor in Colonial America, Medicine Under Sail, and Hospital at War—which described his experiences in a field hospital just behind the front—and his last book, The History of Surgery