Month: May 2025
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Chicago medicine, then and now
In the mid-19th century, Chicago was a city battling for survival against serious public health threats. Poor sanitation and contaminated water sources fueled devastating outbreaks of cholera, typhoid, and smallpox. Mortality rates were high. Early healthcare was rudimentary; formal medical training was not always required; and licensing laws were lax. Many relied on folk remedies for…
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Ayurveda, the ancient Indian medicine
The Ayurveda is the world’s oldest healing systems in the world.. Its name comes from the Sanskrit “Ayur,” meaning life, and “Veda,” meaning knowledge. Emerging from the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE) and attaining its most developed form in the first millennium BCE, it is based on a philosophical metaphysical system drawn from Sankhya…
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Ancient Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine represents one of the oldest systems in history. It views the human body as an integrated whole where physical health affects mental wellbeing while requiring environmental balance. The core principle of Chinese medicine includes the vital energy called qi (pronounced “chee”) which flows through the body. A proper flow of qi maintains health,…
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The bridge on the Drina: A literary and historical monument
Ivo Andrić’s The Bridge on the Drina (originally Na Drini ćuprija), published in 1945, is a monumental novel that spans over four centuries of Balkan history, using the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad as both a literal and symbolic centerpiece. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961, Andrić’s work is a profound meditation…
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Plato’s thoughts on illness, medicine, and doctors
In Plato’s philosophical works, particularly in The Republic and Timaeus, we find significant reflections on illness, medicine, and the role of doctors in society. These reflections reveal Plato’s holistic understanding of health as harmony and his views on the proper practice of medicine. For Plato, health represents a state of harmony and balance within the…
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The novels of Karl May: Myth, adventure, and cultural impact
Karl May (1842–1912) remains one of the most popular and widely read authors in the German-speaking world, renowned for his prolific output of adventure novels that captivated generations of readers. Although his name is less familiar outside of Europe, his imaginative works—particularly those set in the American West and the Middle East—have left a lasting…
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Medical aspects of the Mystery of Edwin Drood
Charles Dickens’ last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, remains forever unfinished due to the author’s death in 1870, leaving readers with an enduring literary puzzle. While primarily a mystery narrative, the novel contains several fascinating medical elements that provide insight into both Victorian medicine and Dickens’ own understanding of human psychology and physiology. Central…
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Le Cid by Pierre Corneille
Le Cid is a five-act French play written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 in Paris. It is based on Guillén de Castro’s Las Mocedades del Cid, which itself draws from the legend of El Cid, a Spanish national hero. Pierre Corneille, born in 1606 and died in 1684, was writing during what…
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Akshamsaddin from a medical point of view
The Ottoman scholar Akshamsaddin (Muhammad Shams al-Din bin Hamzah, 1389–1459) is remembered more often as the mentor and advisor to Sultan Mehmed II rather than as a physician who contributed remarkably to the medical knowledge of his time. Born in Damascus, he acquired in his youth a significant knowledge of medicine and pharmacology, derived from…
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Virginia Woolf and the Common Reader
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, remains well worth reading. Lovers of English literature admire her wonderful style, and advocates of women’s rights appreciate the sentiments she expressed in her essay “A Room of One’s Own”. During most of her life she was afflicted by intense mood swings…