Milestones of Medicine charts the dramatic breakthroughs-such as the discovery of penicillin, the first successful heart transplant, the birth of the first test-tube baby and the eradication of smallpox-and the host of less celebrated but no less significant advances in medical science that have transformed people` s daily lives, and their lives, and their very expectations of life, during the 20th century. From the fight against infectious diseases such as diphtheria and tuberculosis in the early part of the century to the development of antibiotics in the second half, from early X-rays to computerised scanning, from blood tests to genetic testing, from the early dialysis machines to heart pacemakers, technology and medical science have combined to produce continuous advances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and to alleviate or cure many previously untreatable conditions. At the same time holiday vaccinations, replacement hip operations, keyhole surgery, contact lenses and the contraceptive pill have become routine features of people` s lives.