Abstract
Reviewed by: Arpan K Banerjee, Birmingham, England, UK
In May 1936, Lord Moynihan delivered the Linacre lecture titled ‘medical truants’ in which he discoursed on doctors who had made contributions in areas outside medicine including science, philosophy, literature, the law and matters of State. In this book, the distinguished surgeon David KC Cooper has edited a collection of essays about these so-called medical truants.
Those included in the book range from writers and poets to philosophers, scientists, musicians and politicians: most were writers. Poets include Dante and John Keats who walked the wards of Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospital, as did Somerset Maugham who abandoned the medical profession following the success of his novel ‘Liza of Lambeth’, a story based on his midwifery experiences as a medical student.
Thomas Young, perhaps the cleverest of all named in the book, is no surprise. A true polymath, linguist, scientist, mathematician, Egyptologist and prolific contributor of articles to Encyclopaedia Britannica, one can only marvel at his prodigious intellect and range of interests. Sir Hans Sloane, British physician and renowned naturalist and great collector, in his lifetime amassed more than 50,000 books and 100,000 specimens and bequeathed these to the nation to found the British Museum and the Natural History Museum. Other interesting figures include David Livingstone and Dr Roget of thesaurus fame.
The book is an entertaining read but should come with the warning that dipping in and out of the covers may make us feel like low achievers!
Footnotes
The Medical Pioneers of Nineteenth Century Lancaster (ISBN 9783741807176; Berlin: epubli GmbH, 2016) edited by Quenton Wessels, explores the medical landscape of Lancaster in the 19th century, charting the evolution of various institutions, including the Dispensary, the Lancaster Medical Book Club, the House of Recovery, the Infirmary, and the Asylum. In addition, there are accounts of significant individuals from this era, based in part on two papers, concerning Sir William Turner and Sir Richard Owen forthcoming in this Journal.
GBS100: Celebrating a century of progress in Guillain-Barré syndrome (ISBN 9780997510300; Peripheral Nerve Society, 2016) edited by Hugh J Willison and John A Goodfellow, is mostly focused on the clinical neurobiology of acute inflammatory neuropathies of the type described by Guillain, Barré, and Strohl in 1916. In addition, the book has a historical section which includes a reproduction and translation of the original paper, as well as providing some context of French neurology at the time. Possible prior accounts of the disorder and the evolution of the eponym are also covered.