About the Book:About the Author: John Duffy is a former president of the American Association for the History od Medicine and author of The Healers: A History of American Medicine; the two-volume works The Rudolph Mates History of Medicine in Louisiana and A History of Public Health in New York City (vol. 1, 1625-1866, vol. 2, 1866-1966); and a number of other books and articles on the history of public health and medicine.