Books That Help Define Us

The medical center bookstore has occupied several locations over the medical center’s 86-year history. The 1956–57 student handbook shows the bookstore on “B Floor,” a reference to the second floor of the P&S building. The bookstore at that time sold books (medical and nonmedical), instruments (from stethoscopes to microscopes), uniforms (white coats, “interne” uniforms, and dissecting gowns), stationery, and athletic supplies (tennis and squash).

Later locations for the bookstore included Black Building and the Mary Woodard Lasker Biomedical Research Building at Broadway and 166th Street. In celebration of the medical center bookstore’s move to its newest location—the lower level of the Hammer Health Sciences Center, with an entrance on Haven Avenue—CUMC presents a sampling of books written by or about CUMC faculty and alumni.

BOOKS BY FACULTY (by date of publication)

“Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Modern Manual By and For Trans People,” Laura Erickson-Schroth, MD, P&S, 2014

“Molecular Oncology: Causes of Cancer and Targets for Treatment,” Edward Gelmann, MD, P&S, 2014

“Recent Advances in Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery, 3rd Edition,” Anil K. Lalwani, MD, P&S, 2014

“Injury Research: Theories, Methods, and Approaches,” Guohua Li, MD, DrPH, Mailman School of Public Health and P&S, 2014

“Enigmas of Health and Disease: How Epidemiology Helps Unravel Scientific Mysteries,” Alfredo Morabia, PhD, Mailman School of Public Health, 2014

“You and Your Anxious Child: Free Your Child from Fears and Worries and Create a Joyful Family Life,” Anne Marie Albano, PhD, P&S, 2013

“People, Parasites, and Plowshares: Learning From Our Body’s Most Terrifying Invaders,” Dickson Despommier, PhD, P&S and Mailman School of Public Health, 2013

“Urban Alchemy: Restoring Joy in America’s Sorted-Out Cities,” Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, P&S and Mailman School of Public Health, 2013

“High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society,” Carl Hart, PhD, P&S, 2013

“The Neuropsychiatry of Headache,” Philip R. Muskin, MD, P&S, 2013

“Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of America’s Children,” David Rosner, PhD, and Gerald E. Markowitz, PhD, Mailman School of Public Health, 2013

“Collective Trauma, Collective Healing: Promoting Community Resilience in the Aftermath of Disaster,” Jack M. Saul, PhD, Mailman School of Public Health, 2013

“Surgical and Interventional Ultrasound,” Beth A. Schrope, MD, PhD, P&S, 2013

“The Family Guide to Mental Health Care,” Lloyd I. Sederer, MD, Mailman School of Public Health, 2013

“Ethical and Legal Issues for Doctoral Nursing Students: A Textbook for Students and Reference for Nurse Leaders,” Anne Griswold Peirce, PhD; Jennifer A. Smith, DNP; Nancy Reame, PhD;  Courtney Reinish’07; Rita Marie John, DNP, EdD; and Joan Valas’90 and ’91, School of Nursing, 2013

“May I Cut In? A Surgeon’s Story,” Frederic P. Herter, MD, P&S, 2012

“The Age of Insight, the Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present,” 2012, and “In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind,” 2007, Eric Kandel, MD, P&S

“Am I My Genes? Confronting Fate and Family Secrets in the Age of Genetic Testing,” Robert Klitzman, MD, P&S, 2012

“The Healing Power of Reiki, A Modern Master’s Approach to Emotional, Spiritual & Physical Wellness,” 2012; the “You” series, including “You: The Owner’s Manual”; “Healing From the Heart”; “Cardiac Assist Devices”; and “Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery,” Mehmet C. Oz, MD, P&S

“The Happiness Diet,” Drew Ramsey, MD, P&S, 2012

“The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,” Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, P&S, 2010 (2011 Pulitzer Prize winner)

“The Bond,” 2008; “We Beat the Streets. How a Friendship Pact Led to Success,” 2006; “The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream,” 2003, George Jenkins, DMD, College of Dental Medicine

“Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine,” Richard P. Sloan, PhD, P&S, 2008

“Heart to Heart: A Personal Plan for Creating a Heart-Healthy Family,” Lori Mosca, P&S, 2005

“Younger Next Year” series, Henry Lodge, MD, P&S, 2004–11

“LLEGAR a 100” or “Reaching 100,” Raul Guerrero and Edward Schuster, MD, P&S, 2004

“The Columbia University School of Public Health 40+Guide to Good Health,” Robert J. Weiss, Mailman School of Public Health, 1993


BOOKS ABOUT FACULTY (by date of publication)

“The Surgeons: Life and Death in a Top Heart Center” by Charles R. Morris, 2008

“The Grateful Heart, Diary of a Heart Transplant” by Candace C. Moose, which includes a thank you to her transplant surgeon, Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD, P&S, 2005

“A Proud Heritage: An Informal History of Surgery at Columbia” by the John Jones Surgical Society, 2003

“Charles Drew: Pioneer of Blood Plasma” by Linda Trice, 2000


BOOKS BY ALUMNI (by date of publication)

Gosia Brykczynska, Nursing Class of 1980, “Colours of Fire: The Life of Hanna Chrzanowska,” 2014

Robin Cook, P&S Class of 1966, 27 books, including “Cell,” 2014

Paul Marks, P&S Class of 1949, “On the Cancer Frontier: One Man, One Disease, and a Medical Revolution,” 2014

T. Berry Brazelton, P&S Class of 1943, author of 24 books, including “Toddlers and Parents: A Declaration of Independence,” 2013, and “Learning to Listen: A Life Caring for Children,” 2013

Benjamin Spock, P&S Class of 1929, “Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care: 9th Edition Paperback,” 2012

John Godfrey, Nursing Class of 1994, “City of Corners,” 2008

Story Musgrave, P&S Class of 1964, “Story: the Way of Water,” 2007

Mary Reynolds Powell, Nursing Class of 1969, “A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam,” 2000

A. Elizabeth “Bessie” Delany, College of Dental Medicine Class of 1923, “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years,” 1994

Armand Hammer, P&S Class of 1921, “Hammer,” 1987

Jean Baker Miller, P&S Class of 1952, “Toward a New Psychology of Women,” 1976

Robert Butler, P&S Class of 1953: “Why Survive? Being Old In America,” 1975 (1976 Pulitzer Prize winner)

Robert Coles, P&S Class of 1954, “Children of Crisis” book series, 1967–77 (1973 Pulitzer Prize winner)

Walker Percy, P&S Class of 1941, “The Moviegoer,” 1961 (1962National Book Award for Fiction and one of Time magazine’s 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005)


BOOKS ABOUT ALUMNI (alphabetically by subject name)

Robert Butler, P&S Class of 1953: “Robert N. Butler, MD: Visionary of Healthy Aging” by W. Andrew Achenbaum, 2013

William Stewart Halsted, P&S Class of 1877: “Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted” by Gerald Imber, 2010

Walker Percy, P&S Class of 1941: “Walker Percy: A Life” by Patrick H. Samway,1999, and “The Correspondence of Shelby Foote & Walker Percy,” edited by Jay Tolson, 1996

Benjamin Spock, P&S Class of 1929: “Dr. Spock: An American Life” by Thomas Maier, 1998