Book recommendation for us medical historians.

BelleBlackburn

First Sergeant
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Location
Nashville, TN
Doctoring the South by Steven Stowe.

I have mentioned the book in some other thread on this site but thought I would post it here for the likeminded. I stumbled across this book at the library a few years ago and checked it out. I thought I might flip through it but ended up reading it cover to cover. It is taken from the daybooks of the physicks. It is a real insight into how the mind of the mid 1800s physician worked. It is so different from now. It also talks about how much they charged for different things. These were not army physicians but it gives insight into the practices they came from.

Looking back on the "crazy" things they thought and prescribed I soberly reflect on the fact that 150 years from now we will be viewed the same way. I wonder if our time will be known as the Chemical Age, when we threw chemicals at everything in the form of a pill. Better living through chemistry...
 
Doctoring the South by Steven Stowe.

Thanks for the recommendation Belle! It sounds like it offers an informative view of mid nineteenth century regional medicine. I am looking for options to secure a copy.


Looking back on the "crazy" things they thought and prescribed I soberly reflect on the fact that 150 years from now we will be viewed the same way.

When reading about past medical practices, my initial reaction is, generally, dismay. Then, I, like you, find myself realizing that future generations will no doubt look back, and be just as dismayed, by our present medical practices.


I wonder if our time will be known as the Chemical Age, when we threw chemicals at everything in the form of a pill. Better living through chemistry...
America’s biopharmaceutical research companies lead the world in the discovery and development of new medicines. Big money! Personally, I don't even like to take an aspirin. :smile:
 
Since most of my ancestors spent most of their enlistment in hospitals, I bought a copy of Civil War Medicine, Care & Comfort of the Wounded, by Robert E. Denney. It is a day-by-day medical overview of the entire war. Pretty interesting...
 
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