Few specialties have a longer or richer eponymous background than obstetrics and gynaecology. Eponyms add a human side to an increasingly technical profession in which both the providers and recipients of medical care continue to crave the human touch and are diminished by its absence. This collection provides an introductory profile of some of the more significant and fascinating characters in whose steps we follow. It is not confined to eponyms but includes other notable names in the development of the specialty and several from other specialties whose contributions are relevant to obstetrics and gynaecology.
For each entry, biographical data are provided and the eponym or work for which they are known is outlined with context. Where available, the original and related references are provided. A bibliography of linked references will assist the reader wanting more detailed information on individual subjects.
Fifty-four new entries are included in this second edition bringing the total to 365 names from 33 countries. Considerable information has been added to most of the original names in the first edition. More portraits of individuals and have pictures of instruments and techniques are included and there are now more than 380 illustrations in the book.
This book will be of interest to anyone interested in obstetrics and gynaecology and will provide many hours of entertainment: once opened, it is hard to put down.
Reviews of this book can be found here.
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From Witchcraft to Wisdom: A History of Obstetrics & Gynaecology in the British Isles tells the story of the development of childbearing since 1540. To tell a story of events which have developed over more than four hundred years is clearly a major task. Professor Chamberlain has undertaken this in a characteristically forthright fashion which holds the reader’s attention throughout. He tells how childbearing has gradually changed from an event so dangerous to the mother that many made their wills before labour began to the virtually pain-free deliveries of today; how gynaecological disorders have been studied and managed to the great relief of the modern woman.
Professor Chamberlain tells, also, of the battles which had to be fought with the surgeons, with the church and against public opinion to bring these advances about. He does not limit his account to the professionals in these fields, however, but tells his story against a background of significant social and historical events which have occurred in the British Isles and, when necessary, abroad, which will be of interest to health workers of all kinds and to sociologists as well.
He intrigues the reader with fascinating quotations from a variety of sources, some of which posterity has proved correct and others history has shown to be lamentably wrong. A notable feature of the book is the use of ‘boxes’ which appear in parallel with the main text, in which an individual of special importance or a development of particular significance can be given more detailed attention without interrupting the flow of the text itself. Frequent illustrations further increase the interest of this fine book.
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Lazare Rivière (called Lazarus Riverius in Latin), born in 1589, practiced medicine in Montpellier, France, and eventually became physician to the French king. He wrote 17 books, each covering the diseases of a separate part of the body, and his collected works were published in Latin in 1655 in a single volume, The Practice of Physick. There were many subsequent editions, including several editions of the English translation by the famous London herbalist Nicholas Culpeper.
Rivière’s Book 15, Of the Diseases of Women, gives a good insight into the way 17th century medicine was practised, with its great emphasis on the regulation of the ‘humours’ by the use of herbal and other natural remedies. It also provides a marvellous view of the miseries which most medieval women, rich and poor, would have had to suffer during the ordeals of pregnancy and childbirth at that time.
This is one of the first textbooks of obstetrics and gynaecology ever to be translated from Latin into English. Enough of the original text is retained to convey the flavour of the work, repetition and verbosity has been ruthlessly removed and the technical jargon has been translated into simple modern terms. The text is thus accessible to both the medical and the general reader.
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BJOG Celebrates its Centenary
Guest Editor: F Loeffler Publication Date: 2004 Retail Price: £1.00 ISBN: 978-1-900364-89-8 Extent: 151 pages |
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Sixteen distinguished obstetricians and gynaecologists teamed up to identify between 10 and 20 striking articles in the decade allocated to them and to write commentaries thereon. The fruit of their labours is this Centenary Issue. The choice of articles inevitably reflects the interests of their scrutinisers, but it also portrays rather vividly the evolution of our specialty over a century. Reflecting on the past paves the way to the future and it is hoped that many will gain pleasure and perhaps even some benefit from a backward look.
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The Obstetric Forceps: A Short History and Descriptive Catalogue of the Forceps in the Museum of the RCOGBryan Hibbard Publication Date: 1992 Retail Price: £1.00 ISBN: 9789999000123 Extent: 94 pages |
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The RCOG's collection of forceps and other obstetric instruments spans over 300 years of obstetric history and reflects practice as well as social, nutritional, economic and technological developments.
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