The Enigma of the Historiated “V” in Vesalius’s Fabrica

This post continues to mark the 500th birthday of the great anatomist Andreas Vesalius, whose masterpiece tome, De Humani Corporis Fabrica, skillfully combined art and medicine. Today I will discuss the enigma of the historiated V that was introduced in the 1555...

Jewish History in Vesalius’s Fabrica

This is another post to mark the 500th birthday of Andreas Vesalius, author of the great anatomy text entitled De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) – the lavishly illustrated masterpiece that combined art and medicine. The Fabrica will be 472...

Arion Triumphant

This post is written in honor of the 500th birthday of the great anatomist, Andreas Vesalius, who combined art and medicine in his landmark masterpiece, De Humani Corporis Fabrica. I am a lifelong fan of Vesalius and currently collaborating with the physician-scholar...

Philippe Pinel and the Lunar Society in New Jersey

Last week I had the opportunity to give a lecture at the Lunar Society – an offshoot of the Medical History Society of New Jersey – on the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick. The Lunar Society is named after a British social club in the 18th century which...

Dakin’s Solution: Past, Present, and Future.

This article on the history of Dakin’s Solution was published in the journal, Advances in Skin & Wound Care.  Dakin’s solution has been used for almost a century for treatment of infected wounds. Developed by a biochemist named Henry Dakin in the early...

The Legacy of Letchworth Village

We often think that medical progress marches in a straight line, but that is not the case.  Some ideas change the field rapidly, while others sit by the sidelines for decades before being accepted.  Others are accepted by the medical profession like a fad only to fall...