An exploration into the seemingly contrasting, but often inter-related, themes of science, medicine, warfare and religion in history. The text looks at the spiritual ideas that have influenced cultures over the past 12,000 years from the religion of Ancient Egypt to the Mormons. Key developments in science and medicine are analyzed from the earliest prehistoric process of skull-drilling to laboratory-grown spare body parts. The immense advances in modern military history are then described including the invention of the Shrapnel shell and the increased use of helicopters as a fighting force in the Gulf War of the 1990s. The reference traces man's battle for knowledge in all its forms and in so doing our understanding of the world. Explore the ideas, discoveries and beliefs that have shaped the human race. in a thematic approach to world history.