Healers and achievers : physicians who excelled in other fields and the times in which they lived / Raphael S. Bloch.

"It is not widely known that throughout history physicians have contributed more than just medical care to civilization. Healers and Achievers is a series of biographies of doctors from ancient Egypt to the twenty-first century who distinguished themselves with lasting non-medical accomplishments. They include the architect of the first Egyptian pyramid, a pope, the "Fathers" of astronomy, geology, magnetism, and taxonomy, American Founding Fathers, French Revolutionaries, a buccaneer, world-class athletes, a spy, and an astronaut. Their life stories are told in the context of the eras in which they lived, and their fields of medical and non-medial expertise are explained in terms comprehensible to both laymen and physicians."--Back cover.