The 25th edition of The Giant’s Shoulders–a special 2nd anniversary edition!–is up over at The Dispersal of Darwin. Thanks for mentioning two of my posts. Go on, Dear Reader–check it out!
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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
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In a previous post, I briefly outlined the history of the London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. In this post, I turn my attention to provide an overview of Curtis’ difficulties in implementing his medical authority within the Asylum. Part of this post is derived from the paper I presented at a joint panel for the… Continue Reading
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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
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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
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In examining the relationship and conflict between the medical and social perceptions of deafness, I began to evaluate how certain medical practitioners strove to implement their medical expertise and authority upon educational institutions for the deaf. John Harrison Curtis was no exception to the growing body of aurists who attempted to increase their reputation with… Continue Reading
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After writing my post on links to several of my daily must-read blogs on history of science and general history, by the time I got to the end of my post, I realized I was missing the history of medicine! Did you know a quick Google search for “history of medicine blog(s)” does not provide… Continue Reading
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I like to start my day with a cup of coffee, a reading of my favourite online newspapers and my blogroll, before proceeding to check off items on my to-do list for the day. There’s been a lot of discussion in the past years about the role of history of science on the web; in… Continue Reading
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In September, I’ll be in Paris, presenting at what is sure to be an amazing conference. The “Fitting for Health: The Economy of Medical Technology in Europe and its Colonies, 1600-1850,” will be held on 2-3 September at the École normale supérieure and Académie nationale de médecine. Here is the conference description: Is the history… Continue Reading
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In this blog post, I want to share one of the projects I’ve been involved with: The University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection (UTSIC), a volunteer project at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, to catalogue, collect, and maintain all of the university’s scientific instruments collection. Several graduate students who… Continue Reading
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In a previous post, I outlined how social attitudes determined the acceptance and shaping of instruments, particularly medical instruments. John Harrison Curtis (1778-1856) was another medical practitioner who followed the early nineteenth century trend in aural surgery to introduce new instruments and innovations for improving medical diagnosis and surgical treatment of deafness and ear diseases.… Continue Reading
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My research into aural surgery began accidentally when I was struggling to find a focus for my Fundamentals in the History of Medicine paper. Coming from a philosophy background, my first year as a graduate student was filled with struggles, extreme stress, and frustration, as I tried to stop writing “like a philosopher” and began… Continue Reading
From the Hands of Quacks 