“Life is short, and the Art so long; the occasion fleeting; experience fallacious; and judgment difficult. The physician must not only be prepared to do what is right himself, but also to make the patient, the attendants, and the externals, cooperate.”

–attributed to Hippocrates, c. 400 B.C.E.

The award-winning author of How We Die and The Art of Aging, venerated physician Sherwin B. Nuland has now written his most thoughtful and engaging book. The Uncertain Art is a superb collection of essays about the vital mix of expertise, intuition, sound judgment, and pure chance that plays a part in a doctor’s practice and life.

I enjoyed this book, as I do all of Nuland's offerings, but it wasn't riveting - it was more like meandering through a park. Most of these pieces were previously published in periodicals, and like many compilations, the necessary brevity normally demanded by magazine editors left me, in several cases, wishing for more fleshing out of the various subjects introduced.