Tag: Inventor
-
Andronicus III, malaria, and Byzantium
The decline and fall of the over one-thousand-year-old Byzantine empire constitutes an epic tragedy. Year after year, decade after decade, this once great empire became weaker and less likely to survive. In 1204, the Crusaders and Venetians conquered and plundered its capital, Constantinople, and divided… Read more
-
Pertussis—A new or ancient disease?
Pertussis is a respiratory disease characterized by the whoop, the sound made by patients during coughing fits, and popularly known as whooping cough. It may be a more ancient disease than is usually assumed. Mentioned in an ancient Chinese medical classic from before the first… Read more
-
History of ectopic kidney
Mostafa ElbabaDoha, Qatar “There are many errors in the development of the kidneys which are of great surgical and pathologic interest. Most of these errors are easily explainable by the remarkable evolutions which attend the development of the urinary apparatus. If anyone doubts the utility… Read more
-
George Orwell: Obsessed with rats
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Of all the horrors—a rat.”– George Orwell, 1984 It is said that author George Orwell (1903–1950), born Eric Blair, was “obsessed” with rats.1 Rats are mentioned in his novels, essays, diaries, and letters. As he got older, he became more rat-obsessed. He… Read more
-
Book review: Disease and Healing in the Indus Civilisation
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, England The Indus (Harappan) civilisation was one of the three contemporaneous ancient civilisations, the others being the Egyptian and Mesopotamian. First excavated by the British in the 1920s, it existed from 3300–1300 BC, extending from the south in Gujarat to northwest India… Read more
-
On Voltaire, Akakia, De Maupertuis, and another Akakia
Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel When in 1718 François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778) was released from incarceration at the Bastille, he changed his name to Voltaire. Soon he became an “enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher, famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his… Read more
-
Ambroise Paré, father of modern surgery
Trisha SebastianSan Jose, California, United States As I stepped into the field hospital I was met at once by the smell rotting of human flesh. I had seen these people die every day, and I wished I could to do something to prevent so many… Read more
-
Jane Addams and Hull House
Jayant RadhakrishnanChicago, Illinois, United States Important but undramatic humanitarian initiatives that improved the lives of many are easily forgotten. Such is the case of Jane Addams and the ladies of Hull House, whose efforts had a great impact on the lives of Chicago’s underserved populations.… Read more
-
Pope John XXI, the only physician to become pope
Pope John XXI was born in Lisbon between 1210 and 1220. His original name was Pedro Rebuli Julião and he was also referred to as Petrus Hispanus (Peter of Spain). He was the only Portuguese ever to be pope. Strictly speaking he should have been… Read more
-
Kadambini Bose Ganguly—India’s first female physician
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, England The name Kadambini Ganguly is not as well remembered today as those of other female pioneering physicians around the world. In her time, Ganguly was a remarkable trailblazer and the first Indian female doctor to practice Western medicine in India. She… Read more
-
Robert Klopstock: Kafka’s fellow patient, friend, and doctor
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “If I had known then what I know now, Franz would be sitting here talking to us.”– Robert Klopstock, M.D., to Kafka scholar Angel Flores, early 1940s Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was born to a German-speaking Jewish family in Prague. He got a… Read more
-
No fitful rest for the ordinary sailor
Richard de GrijsSydney, Australia At the Australian National Maritime Museum, our exhibits include two replica ships that played major roles in Australia’s European history. The Dutch East India Company’s Duyfken made the first recorded European landing on Australian soil in 1606. Our second replica vessel… Read more