Month: October 2024
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John Polidori, physician and writer
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain He thought, in fine, that the dreams of poets were the realities of life.—Polidori, The Vampire Some have regarded John William Polidori as the inventor of the vampire ghost story style. Born in 1795 in the City of Westminster, he was the son of Gaetano Polidori, who had come to England in…
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The rise and fall of human dissection
The practice of dissecting human bodies can be traced back to the Greek physicians Herophilus (335–280 BC) and Erasistratus (304–250 BC) of Alexandria, or even earlier to a rite of passage of the pharaohs to the kingdom of the dead. Roman law and early Christian teachings prohibited dissection, so that early anatomists such as Galen…
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Bicentenary of the birth of Pierre Paul Broca (1824–1880)
JMS PearceHull, England This year marks the bicentenary of the birth of Pierre Paul Broca, who established the cerebral localization of motor, expressive speech, and language function.1 He was the son of Jean “Benjamin” Broca, a surgeon in Napoleon’s army, and Annette Thomas. Broca was born on 28 June 1824 in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande in the Dordogne.…
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Emil von Behring and passive antibody therapy
In a March 1929 editorial, the British Medical Journal referred to Emil von Behring (1854–1917) as one of the greatest benefactors of humanity. Recipient of the first-ever Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and awarded a title of nobility, the German physiologist who developed a serum for treating diphtheria and tetanus was showered with orders…
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Snake oil and snake oil salesmen
Jayant Radhakrishnan Chicago, Illinois, United States According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “snake oil” is a noun that refers to “any of various substances or mixtures sold (as by a traveling medicine show) as medicine usually without regard to their medical worth or properties.” They also call it “poppycock, bunkum.”1 “Snake oil salesman” originated as a pejorative…
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A doctor in his own mind
Harvey LiebermanRockville Centre, New York, United States Over the past two centuries, medicine has evolved from a practice steeped in mysticism to a discipline grounded in science. Yet, even today, many people yearn for healers who combine scientific expertise with a touch of the mystical—who not only treat the body but also soothe the spirit.…
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Curing in bureaucracy: Medical professionals and the rise of the US pension system
Catherine TangPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States The rise of the American federal pension system in the wake of the Civil War made doctors suddenly responsible for denying or approving veterans’ pension applications. This new legal duty sometimes strained the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. John W. Wright, an ophthalmologist in Columbus, OH, recognized that some veterans would have…
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The life and science of Pierre Curie (1859–1906)
Pierre Curie was a pioneering physicist whose scientific achievements, notably in collaboration with his wife, Marie Sklodowska-Curie, have had a lasting impact on the field of physics. He was born in 1859, having a doctor as his father and a well-educated woman as his mother. He was homeschooled by his father, who introduced him to…
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Gregor Johann Mendel, father of modern genetics (1822–1884)
Gregor Mendel was an Austrian scientist and Augustinian friar who laid the foundation of the science of heredity and genetics. Although his contributions to science were not widely recognized during his life, his work with pea plants in the mid-19th century revolutionized our understanding of how traits are inherited across generations, thus greatly influencing medicine,…