Tag: Spring 2025
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The man behind the bottle
Mariam BanoubEmma RyanJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States “Ahhh, the pause that refreshes.” “Things go better with Coke.” “Taste the feeling.” “So refreshing, so welcome, so everywhere.” These phrases may elicit a feeling of warmth and joy. Or the feeling of a crisp, cold Coca-Cola on a hot summer’s day. They are meant to encourage the…
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René Descartes
JMS PearceHull, England René Descartes (1596–1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. So profound and diverse were his writings1,2 that this is no more than a slight sketch of his extraordinarily original ideas and his contributions to medicine. A year after his birth in Touraine, his mother died in childbirth and his grandmother cared…
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Jacques-Louis David’s portrayal of Lavoisier
JMS PearceHull, England In the 1780s, a period of rumbling social unrest in France, the lives of two famous men, a scientist and an artist, would interact. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) is often associated with the discovery of oxygen; Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) was the preeminent neoclassical artist. Lavoisier was a French nobleman, justly celebrated for…
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Pine Rest and the Dutch Reformed vision: A historical perspective on mental health care in West Michigan
Nicole BuozisGrand Rapids, Michigan, United States Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services is a nonprofit organization providing comprehensive mental healthcare services in Michigan. With a 220-acre campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and nineteen outpatient locations across the state, Pine Rest is the largest freestanding behavioral health provider in Michigan and the third largest in the…
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The cosmonaut’s body: Medical politics and Soviet space medicine
Martine MussiesUtrecht, The Netherlands When Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth on April 12, 1961, his body represented more than human achievement—it embodied a radical reimagining of medicine’s role in space travel.10 The Soviet space program transformed cosmonauts into living laboratories where medical science, political ideology, and technological innovation converged. This transformation reveals how the USSR weaponized…
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From genocide to dream: The journey of a Rohingya refugee student
Mohammed SirajKutupalong Refugee Camp-7, Bangladesh I was born in a small village called Nanther Daung, near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. My family and the entire Rohingya community have faced discrimination, persecution, political exclusion, and genocide in Myanmar for more than seventy-five years. Following the 1962 military coup by General Ne Win, the regime institutionalized racism. The…
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Premature burial in literature
Nothing is more terrifying than the thought of being buried alive, of being wrapped in a shroud, bound hand and feet, with no way to escape. This thought has long haunted human imagination. It was a real possibility before and during the 17th to 19th centuries, when numerous documented cases of premature burial, both verified…
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Of bears, danger, and medical wonders
Bears are formidable animals, unbeatable in strength and resilience, some weighing over a thousand pounds. Some grizzly and polar bears reach massive sizes and with their muscular build, sharp claws, and powerful jaws can kill their prey swiftly and efficiently. Although bears are powerful and robust, they are subject to various medical conditions. They can…
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Antonio Vivaldi, the “Red Priest” composer
By the middle of the 17th century, Venice no longer reigned as the naval superpower of the Mediterranean. But with a population of about 150,000, it was still the most elegant and refined city in Europe. Born there in 1676 was one of the greatest composers of all time, Antonio Vivaldi. Ordained as a Catholic…
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Helen of Troy: A literary and historical consideration of her role as an ancient Egyptian healer
Araam AbboudDayton, Ohio, United States Helen of Troy is typically remembered as the woman whose face launched a thousand ships, a passive figure at the center of a patriarchal epic. But to consider Helen solely as the object of desire and the catalyst of war is to flatten her literary and historical possibilities. Across ancient…