Journal of medical biography
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Biography Historical Article
Sir James Young Simpson and religion: myths and controversies.
This paper analyses two key aspects of the life and work of Sir James Young Simpson: his evangelical Christianity and his reaction to criticism following his use of anaesthesia in obstetrics. Simpson's personal religious struggle is placed in the context of the devastating events surrounding the Disruption of the established Church of Scotland in 1843. ⋯ Simpson's carefully constructed counter to criticism of anaesthesia, drawing on considerable theological and linguistic expertise, reveals a complexity at odds with the simplicity of his faith. The contrast is so great and the reaction so elaborate that it is proposed that Simpson deliberately exaggerated the affair, believing the publicity could only be valuable.
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Historical Article
Medical memorials in Antarctica: a gazetteer of medical place-names.
In Antarctica an astonishing more than 300 'medical' place-names record the lives of surgeons and physicians who have served as leaders, clinicians and scientists in the field of polar medicine and other doctors memorialized for their service to medicine. These enduring medical memorials are to be found in the names of glaciers, mountains, capes and islands of the vast frozen Southern Continent. This Antarctic Medical Gazetteer features, inter alii, doctor-expedition leaders, including Jean-Baptiste Charcot (1867-1936) of France and Desmond Lugg (b. 1938) of Australia. ⋯ This Gazetteer also includes a collection of medical place-names on the Loubet Coast honouring Dr John Cardell (1896-1966) and nine other pioneers who worked on the prevention of snow blindness and four islands of the Lyall Islands Group, including Surgeon Island, named after United States Antarctic Medical Officers. Eleven geographic features (mountains, islands, nunataks, lakes and more) are named after Australian doctors who have served with the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions based at Davis Station. Biographic memorials in Antarctica comprise a collective witness of esteem, honouring in particular those doctors who have served in Antarctica where death and injury remains a constant threat.
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Biography Historical Article
Joseph Lister (1827-1912): a pioneer of antiseptic surgery remembered a century after his death.
Joseph Lister was a remarkable British surgeon who pioneered principles of antisepsis. He died 100 years ago after devoting his life to developing and promoting safe, antiseptic surgery. ⋯ He recognized the truth in Pasteur's work and in 1867 Lister published his landmark paper 'On the Antiseptic Principle in the Practice of Surgery' in the British Medical Journal. It proved to be a turning point in healthcare.
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Biography Historical Article
Willem J Kolff (1911-2009): physician, inventor and pioneer: father of artificial organs.
Medical pioneer Willem Johan Kolff was an inspirational father, son, physician and inventor. He founded the development of the first kidney dialysis machine, pioneered advances in the heart and lung machine, laid down the foundations for the first mainland blood bank in Europe and successfully implanted the first artificial heart into humans.
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Biography Historical Article
Ludwig Rehn (1849-1930): the German surgeon who performed the worldwide first successful cardiac operation.
Ludwig Rehn, a German surgeon, performed the worldwide first successful cardiac operation in 1896 when he repaired a stab wound to the heart by direct suture. When he presented his work one year later at a surgical conference this pioneering operation evoked considerable ethical discussion. Rehn's surgical contributions also include carrying out the first thyroidectomy in 1880 and clarifying the causes of cancer in workers in the local aniline factories.