Main description:

Key Features: 1. Describes the development of the randomized, controlled trial as the gold standard of proof. 2. Unravels the meaning of "randomized," "double-blind" and "p-values" in a simplified manner for students and clinicians. 3. Contains timeless information on how medical evidence can be understood.

Contents:

1. Early Egyptian Medicine. 2. Hippocrates, Galen and the Humoral Theory. 3. Clay Ears and Asclepian Medicine. 4. Authority as Proof. 5. Andreas Vesalius and Keen Observation. 6. William Harvey Counts Heart Beats. 7. Smallpox, Edward Jenner, and Numbers. 8. Anthony Van Leeuwenhoek and the Microscope. 9. Louis Pasteur, Anthrax, and Rabies. 10. Wilhelm Roentgen, X-rays, and Bullets. 11. Ether, William Morton, and a Yankee Dodge. 12. Tuberculosis, Streptomycin, and Robert Koch. 13. Placebo or the I Feel Better Pill. 14. John Brinkley and Goat Gland Transplantation. 15. Laetrile, Cyanide, and Ernst Krebs. 16. Testimonials and Endorsements. 17. Controlled Trials and Hidden Harm. 18. Randomized Double Blind Controlled Trials. 19. Interpreting the Results of a Clinical Trial. 20. The Gold Standard for Evidence Based Medicine.