Month: May 2025
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Psychiatry and homosexuality in E.M. Forster’s Maurice
Jennifer ParkerBristol, England Introduction “The man in my book is, roughly speaking, good, but Society nearly destroys him,” E.M. Forster wrote in 1915 when describing the eponymous character in his novel Maurice.1,2 Anti-homosexual sentiment saturated British society in the twentieth century, overseen by intertwined medical and legal institutions that both constructed and constricted homosexuality on…
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The cow in culture and history
Cows are domesticated bovine animals that have been used in human agriculture for thousands of years. As ruminants they have a four-chambered stomach system that allows them to digest grass and other plant materials that humans cannot process. There are hundreds of cattle breeds worldwide, ranging from dairy breeds like Holstein and Jersey to beef…
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Michelangelo’s poetry
JMS PearceHull, England The poetry of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) is often overlooked. In it we can discern that behind his sublime sculptures, painting, and architecture lurked a devout man disturbed by deep personal conflicts. Michelangelo, born in Caprese, considered himself a Florentine, although for many years he lived in Rome.3 In the Church of Santo…
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Lead poisoning—not vanquished
Humans began to introduce harmful lead into their bodies thousands of years ago, causing symptoms that the Greek philosopher Nikander of Colophon recognized around 2000 BC. The lead entered the body through pipes, paints, gasoline, and countless other applications and was distributed by the bloodstream to the brain, kidneys, liver, and bones. Stored in bones and…
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Famines throughout history
Since times immemorial there have been numerous famines in the world. Droughts, floods, and crop failures have claimed millions of lives, often the consequence of wars, injudicious policies, repressive measures, but frequently described as inevitable or attributed to supernatural causes. The earliest famines recorded in history occurred during the first dynasties of ancient Egypt,…
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The anti-vaccination movement
The anti-vaccination movement, a diverse coalition that opposes the use of vaccines, represents a serious public health challenge. Amplified by the internet and social media, it threatens society’s wellbeing by contributing to the resurgence of infectious diseases and undermining trust in established science. Its arguments, often rooted in misinformation, personal anecdotes, and distrust of authority,…
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Frédéric Chopin: Poland’s greatest composer (1810–1849)
Frédéric Chopin was one of the greatest piano composers of the Romantic era. Born to a French father and a Polish mother, he grew up in a household that highly valued education and culture. By age six, he was already creating musical compositions, and at age seven, he wrote a polonaise. He received his formal…
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Robert Braidwood’s “Did Man Once Live by Beer Alone?”
In his 1953 essay “Did Man Once Live by Beer Alone?”, archaeologist Robert J. Braidwood raised a provocative question that hinted at deeper anthropological and historical truths about the origins of agriculture. Though framed with a certain tongue-in-cheek humor, the piece explored a serious and fascinating idea: that the cultivation of cereal grains might have…
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Ivan Čobal’s “Blue Wall” at the Maribor University Clinical Centre in Slovenia
Mojca RamšakLjubljana, Slovenia Patients, physicians, and staff at Maribor University Clinical Centre pass an extraordinary piece of artwork each day: a blue wall made of elongated ceramic tiles with welded iron metal reliefs. The “Blue Wall,” officially titled Times Were Better Once (Nekoč so bili boljši časi), is a 3.4 x 16-meter wall featuring two-dimensional…
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Separating the inseparable: Seeing and practice makes it possible
Alan Jay SchwartzPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Conjoined twins present a rare and challenging occurrence. With an incidence of 1 per 50,000–200,000 births,1 the successful separation of conjoined twins is a phenomenal medical-surgical challenge.2 Two reasons, among others, explain why such separation has become successful: a) detailed visualization of the pathologic anatomy and b) simulating and…