OUR GLORIOUS HERITAGE

Bombay: The Times of India Press, 1966. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 106 p. Foreword by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, President of India. 18 textual figures. A brief history of medicine, as it existed, developed, and survived in the Old and New World, with considerable emphasis on ancient India's contributions to medical science. Vakil (1911-74), "The Father of Modern Cardiology," was born in Bombay and returned to India in 1938 after earning his medical degree from the University of London and focused on the treatment of heart ailments at a time when cardiology was not a distinct subspecialty in India. In 1949, after years of scrupulous collation and analysis of data, he published a watershed paper on the antihypertensive properties of Rauwolfia serpentina and effected a paradigm shift in the management of hypertension. Rauwolfia was the world's first successful blood pressure-lowering agent, and its acceptance encouraged research scientists around the world to pursue the development of other hypotensive drugs. This copy is inscribed by Vikal to Dr. Frederick J. Hacker (1914-89), the Vienna-born psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was an expert on aggression and terrorism, on the front flyleaf. Octavo. Original blue cloth binding, with silver titles. Internally crisp and clean. Mild bumping to the corners and tips. The dust jacket is lightly edgeworn, with a touch of sun fading along the spine; otherwise very good. Scarce. Inscribed by Author.