Medical America in the Nineteenth Century ― Readings from the Literature

It is an axiom that medicine has changed dramatically in the past hundred years. Brieger, former professor at the John Hopkins School of Medicine and editor of the Bulletin of the History of medicine has collected a number of articles on American medicine from people as diverse as Benjamin Rush and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Many of the concerns, on the training of physicians and the sanitation at hospitals sound disturbingly contemporary. Others, such as the doubts of Samuel Gross on the germ theory of Lister, sound quaint and fortunately outmoded. Brieger adds biographical introductions for each of the entries. The final entry, particular to Johns Hopkins, announces the donation to the medical school of over $300,000.00 by Mary Elizabeth Garrett, with the stipulation that women be admitted. The money was accepted. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Gert H. Brieger is the Johns Hopkins Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Emeritus Editor of the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, also published by Johns Hopkins.