Like hundreds of other scholars, I’m headed to Philadelphia for The Three Societies meeting: a joint meeting of the  History of Science Society, British Society for the History of Science and Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science. It takes place every four years, so I’m excited for my first ever participation in this meeting. And of course, to visit Philadelphia!

I’m in a session titled “Novelty in Medicine,” taking place on Thursday July 12 at 4pm. Here’s the full list of the panelists:

NOVELTY IN MEDICINE; BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (HOUSTON, 2ND FLOOR)

Michael Finn, University of Leeds
“Constructing a Diseased Mind: Testing Animals,Studying Patients, and Mapping Brains in a Victorian Asylum”

Jonathan Simon, University of Lyon
“Serotherapy in Lyon: The Local Reception of Innovation”

Jaipreet Virdi, University of Toronto
“Inquests into a Surgical Procedure: Creating Public and Professional Trust in Aural Surgery, 1830-1845”

Daniele Cozzoli, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
“Ranyard West’s Research on the Effect of Curare in the Central Nervous System Diseases”

Chair: Nola Semczyszyn, Franklin & Marshall College

My paper will narrate some of the public and professional responses to the coroner’s inquest into the death of two patients within a few days, at the practice of one Dr. Alexander Turnbull. Some of the responses questioned the very nature of aural surgery’s surgical authority and their lack of consensus regarding Eustachian Tube Catheterization. I’ve given a different version of this paper at the 2010 Annual CSHPS meeting before, though not in much detail as this presentation.

See you soon!