400 Years of Melancholising
Robert Burton’s encyclopedic curiosity The Anatomy of Melancholy continues to offer remarkable insights into mental health.
Medicine & Disease
Book of Remembrance
A signature in a collection of autographs reveals a story of Indigenous service that extends from Australia to Canada and Trinidad.
The Black Death: A New Culprit?
Should the finger of blame be pointed at the marmot for the global spread of the plague?
The Original Anti-Vaxxers
When widespread vaccination was introduced there were objections – some justified, some not.
Doctor Who?
A search for the first doctor.
The First Blind Medical Trials
Cures and treatments have always offered potential riches to their inventors. But how was one supposed to know what worked and what didn’t?
The Lessons of Shell Shock
The global crisis wrought by the First World War prompted the birth of free mental health care.
Pandemics: Now and Then
As human populations expand and their exploitation of the globe increases, so does their vulnerability to certain diseases.
A Hospital ‘Manned by Women’
The First World War offered new opportunities for enterprising female doctors.
Removing That Little Knot
A Victorian doctor offering to cure female ‘lunacy’ came under fire for his scandalous new operation: female genital mutilation.