The Laws of Medicine

By: Siddhartha Mukherjee

Narrated by: Santino Fontana

Length: 1 hr and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Essential, required listening for doctors and patients alike: A Pulitzer Prize-winning author and one of the world's premiere cancer researchers reveals an urgent philosophy on the little-known principles that govern medicine - and how understanding these principles can empower us all.

Over a decade ago, when Siddhartha Mukherjee was a young, exhausted, and isolated medical resident, he discovered a book that would forever change the way he understood the medical profession. The book, The Youngest Science, forced Dr. Mukherjee to ask himself an urgent, fundamental question: Is medicine a "science"? Sciences must have laws - statements of truth based on repeated experiments that describe some universal attribute of nature. But does medicine have laws like other sciences?

Dr. Mukherjee has spent his career pondering this question - a question that would ultimately produce some of the most serious thinking he would do around the tenets of his discipline - culminating in The Laws of Medicine. In this important treatise, he investigates the most perplexing and illuminating cases of his career that ultimately led him to identify the three key principles that govern medicine.

Brimming with fascinating historical details and modern medical wonders, this important audiobook is a fascinating glimpse into the struggles and "eureka!" moments that people outside of the medical profession rarely see. Written with Dr. Mukherjee's signature eloquence and passionate prose, The Laws of Medicine is a critical book not just for those in the medical profession but for everyone who is moved to better understand how their health and well-being are being treated. Ultimately this book lays the groundwork for a new way of understanding medicine now and into the future.

©2015 Siddhartha Mukherjee (P)2015 Simon & Schuster

Incredibly arresting

Very well written by the master author of Emperor of Maladies. My rec is to have Mukherjee himself narrate this for real and maximum impact.

Quick, insightful, compelling

I really enjoyed this book. The reading was excellent and the content was insightful. I am a scientist by training and it was enormously helpful to hear the approach of a clinicians to complex problems like human diseases and treatments. If you’re interested in medicine or problem solving in any capacity, I’d recommend it.

an important book,

An essential essay for the understanding of modern medicine. Mukherjee is always a great listen.

Spectacular

Recommended to anyone considering a career in medicine. At the level of any of the create physician authors I've ever read.

thought provoking

Great listen, very thought provoking. Makes you wonder, overall enjoyed it. No need to be a medical professional.

Thoughtful & Enlightening

I’ve read several of Mukherjee’s books and am consistently impressed by them all. This one is no exception. Well done.

essential reading.

essential reading for anyone who cares about the present and future of medicine. written very well and a joy to listen to.

Important Information

I am not in the medical profession and have largely given up on the idea of health care in this country. However, this book was very enlightening to me. The most profound takeaway for me is the idea of setting importance on the outliers rather than dismissing them as extraneous data. Our culture and science has been seduced by averages and we can't seem to let them go even while we despise them. The book "The End of Average" by Todd Rose really opened my eyes about this and I'm pleased to see other professionals coming at the same ideas from different directions. We've been stuck in a rut for too long.

Short! Should be 1/2 credit

I didn’t read details enough, wouldn’t have spent the 1 credit if I had. 1/2 credi

Thought provoking

Humility at the core of understanding is the essence of this short book. I humbly suggest you read and reflect on the journey we will all be taking whether we want to or not.