"Among his many accomplishments, Benjamin Franklin was instrumental in founding the first major civilian hospital and medical school in the American colonies. He studied the efficacy of smallpox inoculation and investigated the causes of the common cold. His inventions - including bifocal lenses and a "long arm" that extended the user's reach - made life easier for the aged and afflicted. In Doctor Franklin's Medicine, Stanley Finger uncovers the instrumental role that this scientist, inventor, publisher, and statesman played in the development of the healing arts - enhancing preventive and bedside medicine, hospital care, and even personal hygiene in ways that changed the face of medical care in both America and Europe."--Jacket.