Long-time physician Sherwin B. Nuland presents a provocative and stimulating collection of stories illustrating the vagaries of medical practice over the years. Among the fascinating and probing questions that Nuland investigates are: --What does the first Hippocratic Oath really mean? --What happens when knowledge comes before we're ready for it? --Why does major surgery using only acupuncture work? --Is there really sympathy between the organs of the body? --What happens when someone yells, Is there a doctor in the house? and you are the doctor? --What goes through the mind of a heart transplant candidate who doesn't make it?