Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Books & Reviews

  • Depression in Little Miss Sunshine

    Emily Atashkari Dublin, Ireland   Frank and Dwayne at the dock. © Twentieth Century Fox. Fair use.  The 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine1 follows the dysfunctional Hoover family as they journey from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Redondo Beach, California, in their old Volkswagen van to bring seven-year-old Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.…

  • Book review: A History of Women in Medicine and Medical Research

    Arpan K. Banerjee Solihull, UK   Cover of A History of Women in Medicine and Medical Research: Exploring the Trailblazers of STEM by Dale DeBakcsy Research and writing on women’s contributions to science and medicine are needed and welcome. Books about science and medical advances have often concentrated primarily on men’s achievements and have a…

  • Book review: John Hughlings Jackson: Clinical Neurology, Evolution and Victorian Brain Science

    Arpan K. Banerjee Solihull, United Kingdom   Cover of John Hughlings Jackson: Clinical Neurology, Evolution and Victorian Brain Science by Samuel H. Greenblatt. Oxford University Press, 2022. ISBN 9780192897640. John Hughlings Jackson is often considered to be the father of clinical neurology, although his contemporary in France, Jean-Martin Charcot, could also justifiably lay claim to…

  • Bibliotheca Sibbaldiana

    Colin McDowall Edinburgh, Scotland   Figure 1: Sir Robert Sibbald by Willem Verelst or John Alexander. Photo credit: Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh On 5 February 1723 a crowd gathered at the house of the late Sir Robert Sibbald, noted Edinburgh physician, for the auction of his personal library. Sibbald was a considerable collector…

  • Books: Catalysts for health care change

    Sherrie Dulworth New York, New York, United States   “Book Tunnel.” Petr Kratochvil. Public Domain Some books are enlightening, others are influential, but precious few are transformative. Those rare books are catalysts for change that help propel society into a collective “ah ha” awakening. Think of Silent Spring,1 The Jungle,2 or The Feminine Mystique3 and their respective…

  • Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity

    Ramon Lim Iowa City, Iowa, United States   Man as conceived by DaVinci. Since an early age, I have often wondered who we are (individually as well as a species) and what might be our place in the universe. I believe that the ultimate goal of science, apart from its utilitarian role, is to help…

  • Through the Magic Door with Conan Doyle

      “Father said it used to be a gentleman was known by his books.” — William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury   You are invited, gentle reader, to walk through the magic door and step into the library. Smoking is allowed, says your host, as he invites you to sit on the green settee…