Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Poor Richard’s Almanac

  • “God Helps Them That Help Themselves”: Poor Richard and the inoculation controversy

    Stewart JustmanMissoula, Montana, United States Before vaccination there was inoculation, and long before opposition to vaccination for Covid-19 there was furious resistance to the practice of inoculating for smallpox. Upon being introduced into Boston in 1721, in the midst of an outbreak of smallpox—exactly the wrong time and place for a dispassionate trial of a…

  • The man of one book

    George DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States As the publishing industry is going through a technological revolution and enhanced digital books come loaded with videos, songs, animated shorts, pop-up graphics, and interactive features, two issues long resonating with scholars and educators seem irrelevant but actually are not. Should one read widely or concentrate on a few authors?…