Modern medical facilities often have exactly what you need when you feel ill or hurt yourself--but that was not always the case. Modern medicine took centuries of trial and error to figure out cures for ailments, and readers learn about many of the biggest inventions in medicine throughout this volume. They explore the extraordinary ideas that have changed people's lives, from the first vaccines and the development of IVF to ground-breaking cancer therapies and "intelligent" artificial limbs. Full-color photographs, diagrams, and clear, concise text work together to tell the story of the greatest ideas in the world of medicine.