Black's Medical Dictionary (42nd Ed.)

Black’s Medical Dictionary first appeared in 1906. That new century was to see health care in the United Kingdom evolve from a largely personal, paternalistic consultation between doctor and patient, based more on medical tradition than medical science, to a complex, science-based, team-oriented and managed service. Even so, the core of medical practice has survived: the face-to-face consultation between doctor and patient. But the nature of this core activity has been irreversibly altered by a shift in the ‘balance of power’ between the participants as patients became better informed about their health, illnesses and possible treatments. A significant catalyst in the emergence of the informed patient has been the media, including publications like this dictionary, the contents of which during its 42 editions reflect these changes in medicine.