BUMP-TIOUS SCIENCE
Nearly all now agree that Phrenology was never science. History can help guide science. Today: can we be sure that everything understood as scientific is not as BUMP-TIOUS as our … Continue reading BUMP-TIOUS SCIENCE
Category: Narrative medicine
Prussic Acid
What is not said in the above newspaper report or the short medical obituary below was that Arthur Edward Buckell was morning the death of his wife who had recently … Continue reading Prussic Acid
‘A fresh supply of PATENT MEDICINES’
This is an extraordinary story. It is historical. It is true. It could never happen today? [open question] Click on ‘Dr Brodum’s’ portait to read this extraorinary story
‘A Guide to Old Age or A Cure for the Indiscretions of Youth’
Mimi Matthews in this blog describes how patent medicines were everywhere in he 18th and 19th century: “These various powders, potions, elixirs, and cordials were primarily peddled by quacks, some … Continue reading ‘A Guide to Old Age or A Cure for the Indiscretions of Youth’
FOR the INSTITUTION
It is by the institution’s rules that we learn, said a spokesperson FOR the INSTITUTION. It is ‘brave to speak up’ for the institution said a spokesperson FOR the INSTITUTION. … Continue reading FOR the INSTITUTION
an ordinary Degree
I gained two ordinary degrees before becoming a specialist. Sian, my wife, has been a General Practitioner in all the time that we have been together. I am now retired … Continue reading an ordinary Degree
Peter’s Lost Marbles
This film, made in 2011, which voiced my disquiet about the enthusiasm for the early diagnosis of dementia, generated such a defensive response that I felt I had to remove … Continue reading Peter’s Lost Marbles
suicide cairns
You may not be aware of this, but across Scotland there are surviving cairns which mark where somebody who had taken their life was once buried. Generally the names have … Continue reading suicide cairns
the NHS
I feel most fortunate to have worked for 25 years in the NHS.
For the Greeks
Before the early 1830s the word “science” was rarely heard. After this time, at least in the Western world, the humanities increasingly became “divorced” from the sciences [and vice versa]. … Continue reading For the Greeks
The “Chemical imbalance” theory
What follows is a selection of a selection of a selection of printed media reports on the so-called “chemical imbalance theory”. Almost without exception the word “theory” was not included: … Continue reading The “Chemical imbalance” theory