Gerald MC. The Drug Book: From Arsenic to Xanax, 250 Milestones in the History of Drugs. New York: Sterling Publishers; 2013, 528pp, $29.95 (hardcover), ISBN 9781402782640.
Gerald MC. The Drug Book: From Arsenic to Xanax, 250 Milestones in the History of Drugs. New York: Sterling Publishers; 2013, 528pp, $29.95 (hardcover), ISBN 9781402782640. As the title indicates, this book describes what the author believes are the 250 milestones in the history of drugs. As stated in the introduction, the author's goal in writing the book was "to inform and entertain general readers who are interested in drugs, the biomedical sciences, or scientific history, in addition to providing new and novel information on a wide range of drugs to scientists, doctors, and scholars." Dr. Gerald certainly succeeded. At first blush, this is a history book of drugs, drug therapy, and drug regulation. However, the author clarifies that drugs "also encompass poisons, drugs of abuse, recreational substances and those chemical that are intended to improve the quality of our lives." The book is intended to be "jargon-free" in so much as it is possible with such a subject. The book is beautifully done. There are 253 monographs, arranged chronologically, each 2 pages in length, 1 page of text on the left and a page with a full-color picture related to the topic on the right. Some of the pictures and captions are themselves informational and entertaining, while others seem a bit tangential. If the page size was larger, it would be a wonderful coffee table book. Of the 253 monographs, 231 are on drugs (some monographs cover more than one drug or an entire class of drugs), while 18 cover drug-related topics such as United States drug regulation, related drug discoveries (eg, drug receptors), and a few popular topics (eg, Off-label prescribing, direct-to-consumer advertising). The last 5 monographs project 5 years into the future, speculating about milestones yet to be accomplished. The majority of the drug monographs are titled with the trade name of the drug, while some use the generic drug name. This inconsistency is not explained, but it is assumed that it was done for drug name recognition by a general audience. The author has cross-referenced the monographs, which is beneficial particularly since he has occasionally covered the same drug in different forms, eg, coca, cocaine, crack cocaine; tea, coffee, caffeine). There is also a "further reading" list that does not represent a full bibliography. It should also be pointed out that Wikipedia encyclopedia was cited as a general resource. There is also a complete index for drug names, people mentioned, etc, though not comprehensive for every term. …