• Article Summary: Harold Cook, “Time’s Bodies: Crafting the Preparation and Preservation of Naturalia.”

    Harold Cook, “Time’s Bodies: Crafting the Preparation and Preservation of Naturalia,” in Merchants and  Marvels: Commerce, Science, and Art in Early Modern Europe. Ed. Pamela H. Smith and Paula Findlen (New York: Routledge 2002). Harold Cook’s (Brown University) article takes place in sixteenth and seventeenth Netherlands, and ties together the market economy and its capital investments,… Continue Reading

  • Navigating the History of Science Blogosphere

    I’m writing a piece for the History of Science Society fall newsletter about history of science/medicine blogs and blogging on the blogosphere. It seems lately this has been a hot topic for discussion on the ‘net, especially after the New York Times Article which outlines possible web-alternatives to peer-review. Last year, our favourite history of… Continue Reading

  • “Who shall decide when aurists disagree?”

    As aural surgery became a “fashionable” trend amongst aristocratic households and several aurists increased in prosperity, conflict between aurists became characteristic of the field. Aurists fiercely competed with each other for positions, status, and patients, and accused each other of being quacks. “Quack” seemed to be less than an accusatory term than a label thrown… Continue Reading

  • The Giant’s Shoulders #26

    This month’s carnival focuses on a topic dear to my heart–Fools, Frauds, and FAILURES! Hosted by scicurious, the carnival contains a great collection of blog posts around the web, including two of mine, “Trust in Quacks,” and “Deafness as Discourse.” Thanks again for including me! Go on, Dear Reader, head over to the carnival and… Continue Reading

  • Sound the Trumpets

    Curtis’ Dispensary aimed to not only provide treatment for the poor and destitute populations, but also to supply acoustic instruments to those with severe hearing loss irremediable by medical treatments. Curtis was prolific in instrument design; taking into account new theories on sound and his own understanding of the physiology of the ear, he invented… Continue Reading

  • Mr. Curtis’ Acoustic Chair

    First introduced and described in the fourth edition of his Treatise on the Physiology and Diseases of the Ear (1831), John Harrison Curtis’ acoustic chair earned him national recognition as an inventor during the first half of the nineteenth century. The chair is a large library chair affixed with a trumpet alongside the chair such… Continue Reading

  • Research Frustrations! RDDE and Lost Records

    In 1817, John Harrison Curtis founded the Dispensary for Diseases of the Ear, the first hospital in England offering specialized care for ear diseases. What was once a small practice aimed at introducing various modes of treatments for all kinds of ear diseases, the Dispensary grew to such a degree that a contemporary noted: “crowds… Continue Reading

  • History of Science & Medicine Blogs: UPDATE

    It seems that I’ve missed countless of amazing history of science and medicine blogs on the blogsphere, either because they slipped my mind, or I wasn’t aware of them. Thanks to all who commented/emailed/chatted with me and directed my attention to these wonderful blogs. Rather than doing another long post (although I’m sure I’ll do… Continue Reading

  • Who’s a Quack?

    In a 1825 article in The London Magazine aptly titled “Of Fashion in Physic,” the writer remarks how the public’s willingness to pay for what they considered “fashionable” trends in medicine and surgery left them vulnerable to ambitious practitioners or charlatans willing to exploit public faith. Speaking of aurists, the writer declared: The people are not… Continue Reading