Cancer - a biography

Cancer

(Posted by Pedro Sousa)

Is cancer merely the next domino to fall in the wake of the advances of modern medical science, before we can claim our inevitable immortality, or is it an intrinsic part of a complex living creature, as inseparable from us as the very code that gives us life?

In The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee writes a biography of Cancer, a story that spans from ancient times to these modern times. Only a master storyteller can make a book on a topic, as dry as the history of the human understanding of cancer, read as though it were a thriller.

Bohemian discussion:

What do you think about making engaging but non-technical books a part of a teaching curriculum as a way to get students excited about a subject?

Given the examples in this book and throughout history of medical experts being so horribly wrong, when can you trust an expert? When is it appropriate for an expert in an area to mock a quack that could potentially do harm to the public?

Given that the experts were often so wrong, to what degree should medicine be more open to new ideas and willing to investigate possibilities that seem far-fetched to the experts. At the same time, resources are finite, and there is a point of diminishing returns to investigating every theory. There are also many theories that have potential to do significant harm to the public put are constantly being put forth by quacks. Where should we draw the line?