Carol Davila, the father of the Romanian modern medicine, made decisive contributions to the development of health sciences in the Romanian Principalities in the last decades of the nineteenth century. The merit of his scientific work was recognized beyond the borders of his country. His life (not devoid of anecdotic instances and unknown episodes) and especially his work have aroused considera...

Conventional sciences have brought forth a wealth of knowledge and benefits, but they have not always been clear and precise about their legitimate scope and methodological limitations. In contrast, new and critical approaches in modern sciences question and reflect their own presuppositions, dependencies, and constraints. Examples are quantum physics, theory and history of science, as well as ...

Few medical schools are able to accord medical history its due. Although its value to the student is generally conceded, overcrowded curricula have, for the most part, allotted little time and guidance in that direction. Doctor Mettler's outstanding contribution may enable the student to achieve the desired background by his own efforts. Aside from the intrinsic merits of the work, its unique v...

For the whole of the 20th century it was believed that the Black Death and all the plagues of Europe (1347–1670) were epidemics of bubonic plague. This review presents evidence that this view is incorrect and that the disease was a viral haemorrhagic fever, characterised by a long incubation period of 32 days, which allowed it to be spread widely even with the limited transport of the Middle Ag...

For the whole of the 20th century it was believed that the Black Death and all the plagues of Europe (1347–1670) were epidemics of bubonic plague. This review presents evidence that this view is incorrect and that the disease was a viral haemorrhagic fever, characterised by a long incubation period of 32 days, which allowed it to be spread widely even with the limited transport of the Middle Ag...

For more than eight centuries, the Asclepieia in ancient Greece offerred health care, combining experimental therapeutic methods with a variety of religious and magical elements. This paper argues that neither the location nor the building composition of the Asclepieia were selected at random. Literature sources and excavations indicate that Asclepieia were built in locations of great natural b...

Otorhinolaryngology, a product of the early 20th century, developed from the joining together of the separate departments of otology, whose practitioners were surgeons, and laryngology which was managed by physicians who also treated diseases of the nose and chest. The 20th century opened with brave attempts to perform skilful surgery under conditions of primitive anaesthesia and no antibiotics...

nervus ophthalmicus Willisii, nervus accessorium Willisii and the otological symptom, par(wacsis Willisii. But Hughes probes much further than merely tracing the etymology of these eponyms. Willis's family, teachers, colleagues and pupils are chronologically paraded past the reader's view in five early chapters. Additionally, Hughes, a neuropathologist, devotes four chapters to a survey of Will...