Michael Kennedy is a retired surgeon and amateur historian whose own book is listed on Amazon. Astronomy is another hobby and I have seen the 'sombrero' galaxy through a 16 inch telescope. Copernicus and Galileo are both prominent alumni of the medical school at Padua. Several years ago, with my daughter, I stood in the great hall of that institution beneath the busts of the two great men. The history of medicine and science will be enough to keep me busy for the next decade and I will be returning to the Mediterranean for more history this spring. I read four to five books a week and have them stacked everywhere in my home. I can't build bookcases fast enough to keep up.That brief bio is almost ten years old now but the book is still selling and I appreciate every buyer. I still teach medical students and one of my students from 12 years ago had only a prepublication copy of the manuscript that I had given to students for their comments. He is now a professor in the department of surgery and I was able to give him a copy of the hard cover version from my small store of them. My travels have been curtailed but I have drafts of two other books on my computer and one of these days I will have one ready to publish. I have a series of lectures that I prepared for students, several of which cover topics that are not in the book. One is the medical history of the American Civil War. That one was given at the British Army Medical Corps headquarters, hence the reference to the "American" Civil War.