A Pictorial History of Medicine

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1957 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-176
Author(s):  
RICHARD H. SHRYOCK
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
History Of Medicine ◽  
Western Medicine ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Dr. Bettmann has at last provided us with a pictorial history of medicine which is comprehensive in scope, rich in its illustrations, and generally sound in its running commentaries. Anyone who will consider the difficulties inherent in each of these connections, will recognize the extraordinary nature of the achievement. With regard to scope, the work covers the entire story of Western medicine from the Egyptian period to the end of the Nineteenth Century. Moreover, it includes the social and professional, as well as the scientific history. Since the text is secondary to the illustrations, rather than the reverse as in most histories, content is divided into units with appropriate headings.

Medical Misadventure in an Age of Professionalisation, 1780-1890

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alannah Tomkins
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
History Of Medicine ◽  
Social History ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Personal Gain ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medical Marketplace ◽  
Social History Of Medicine

This book examines the turbulent careers of medical practitioners who wanted to become full members of the profession but were held back from the fulfilment of their ambitions. They might have fallen bankrupt, or have been forced to take a post that did not live up to their expectations. Alternatively they might have been accused of neglecting or injuring patients. Another possibility was that they felt the pressures of professional practice so severely that they fell ill or committed suicide. This book tells the stories of the unfortunate, deceptive and desperate doctors who tried and failed to earn a living, or who overcame substantial setbacks to their careers. It moves beyond the well-known examples of medical heroes and villains to reveal startling, poignant and sometimes equivocal experiences that complicate our understanding of medical professionalisation. By the end of the nineteenth century, for example, the behaviour of professional doctors aspired to be entirely disinterested; yet the continued existence of a medical marketplace demanded attention to personal gain and fostered covert competition between practitioners. This is also the first book to consider the parameters of a specifically medical masculinity and pressure points for medical male identities. As such it will be essential reading for undergraduates working on the social history of medicine, and a research text for academic treatments of professionalisation in medicine.

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