Scan barcode
smbcoffee's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting little book- not mind blowing, but gives some insight into how complicated making a medical diagnosis can be.
magzz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
toniewyjdzie's review against another edition
3.0
Książka jest ciekawa, ale bardzo krótka. Oparta na TED Talk, który szczerze polecam. Siddhartha Mukherjee jest świetnym lekarzem i ma wiele do przekazania, ale ta książka niestety tego nie oddaje.
zhzhang's review
3.0
Comparing to the author's other books, this book feels like a small pamphlet. Yet it does contain some important laws/information we need to remember when we choose our health care, either physicians or treatment/drugs.
pjdas1012's review against another edition
3.0
"Medicine asks you to make perfect decisions with imperfect information."
A brief review of the three major lessons that Dr. Mukherjee has learned throughout his time as a doctor. Nothing revolutionary in this book, but a simple synthesis of important themes to keep in mind throughout a medical career.
A brief review of the three major lessons that Dr. Mukherjee has learned throughout his time as a doctor. Nothing revolutionary in this book, but a simple synthesis of important themes to keep in mind throughout a medical career.
payshens117's review against another edition
4.0
My dad picked this book out for me when I went to the library, so I felt an obligation to read it. But I was pleasantly surprised. This was such a good insight to the medical profession and how uncertain it all is. I really loved writing style. I don't really read much non fiction, but now I want to start. This was so fresh for me, and such a good change of pace.
fionak's review against another edition
3.0
Short and concise but didn't give me any real insights and it reinforces the idea that doctors are smarter than patients. (Almost anyone with a chronic disease knows how laughable this is.)
prolinjb's review against another edition
4.0
I don't remember if someone told me this or I read it somewhere : Don't read any book if will not re-read it. Paradoxical as the statement is but this is one such book which I first heard as an audio book and latter read the hard copy.
There are very few books which mesmerises you as early as in the preface. Siddhartha Mukherjee, the famous oncologist, gives a glimpses of what is to come in the Author's Notes where in he gives the most beautiful accurate of Harry Potter series - he calls it a philosophical treatise disguised as a children's book.
This should give some sense give readers a clue that the title is misleading and while the book has ample examples of medicines, it is valuable for any one who wants to learn how to navigate through the lawless, uncertain world. It is about how one can reconcile knowledge with wisdom.
On medicines, the book helps in dispelling a popular perception that medicines is a exact science. Medicines when compared to physics or even chemistry (which has fair degree of lawlessness) is a much more softer science, laws of which cannot be described through equations. Also medicines in the newest of the science. It is only after 1930 that medical intervention were discover which had measurable impact on the illness. After reading this one is less surprised when the outcomes of medical intervention on illness are not predictable in our lives.
The book talks about three ideas - the importance of using prior knowledge (Bayesian thinking), how outliers teach us more than inliers and how once should always be cognisant about the inherent (sometimes innocent) biases in every study. These are the ideas that helps in interpreting the unknowns that we counter more often than we ought to be.
Many have said that Siddhartha Mukherjee is the greatest medical writer of our times. I don't think one should restrict the praise to medical writing. He is one of the greatest story tellers of our time.
There are very few books which mesmerises you as early as in the preface. Siddhartha Mukherjee, the famous oncologist, gives a glimpses of what is to come in the Author's Notes where in he gives the most beautiful accurate of Harry Potter series - he calls it a philosophical treatise disguised as a children's book.
This should give some sense give readers a clue that the title is misleading and while the book has ample examples of medicines, it is valuable for any one who wants to learn how to navigate through the lawless, uncertain world. It is about how one can reconcile knowledge with wisdom.
On medicines, the book helps in dispelling a popular perception that medicines is a exact science. Medicines when compared to physics or even chemistry (which has fair degree of lawlessness) is a much more softer science, laws of which cannot be described through equations. Also medicines in the newest of the science. It is only after 1930 that medical intervention were discover which had measurable impact on the illness. After reading this one is less surprised when the outcomes of medical intervention on illness are not predictable in our lives.
The book talks about three ideas - the importance of using prior knowledge (Bayesian thinking), how outliers teach us more than inliers and how once should always be cognisant about the inherent (sometimes innocent) biases in every study. These are the ideas that helps in interpreting the unknowns that we counter more often than we ought to be.
Many have said that Siddhartha Mukherjee is the greatest medical writer of our times. I don't think one should restrict the praise to medical writing. He is one of the greatest story tellers of our time.