by Joseph Needham (Author), Arthur Hughes (Revised by)

First published in 1959 as the second edition of a 1934 original, this book describes the Western history of embryology from prehistoric concepts of foetal growth through Graeco-Roman antiquity to the close of the eighteenth century. The text is illustrated with plates and diagrams showing the development of scientific understanding over time, first through artistic representations of gestation and later through scientific drawings and sketches. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of medicine.