Through most of history, the course of human life has been nasty, brutish and short, and what passed for medicine wasn't all that helpful in ending suffering and disease. Jennings, a British research scientist, points out in her offbeat history that many of the medical advances which led to medicine's conquering of illnesses and pain came through luck rather than skill and imagination over hidebound dogma, and, in particular, by women such as Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie.

      Because this is the historical nature of medical progress, Jennings leaves us with the question of how modern medicine, which is exploring the farthest reaches of possibilities in cloning, human-animal transplantation and pharmacology, ought to be bound by ethical conventions. This idea is left hanging, however, and once introduced ought have been explored in greater depth.

      The saturation of blood and guts and the descriptions of diseased body parts become more and more tedious with each page. Taste, however, is not the issue with this book. Whether it will stimulate students to move on to more advanced materials on the subject is questionable.

Recommended with Reservations.