This book is, foremost but not exclusively, a manual of the history of medical thought which is divided into four parts:* the history of the formation of medical science from the origins up to the nineteenth century;* Chinese medicine, by one of the authors who is a specialist. The object of this part is to underline the contrast between our reductionist medicine (man explained by his cells) and Chinese medicine which adopts an opposite view and tries, on the contrary, to re-establish harmony between man and the cosmos;* contemporary medicine, based on chemistry. After Pasteur's work and the foundation of molecular medicine, the authors analyze successively genetics, molecular biology, cancerogenesis, viruses and pharmacology;* tomorrow's medicine: transplants, neurosciences, predictive medicine.P. Meyer and P. Triadou are both professors of medicine in Paris.