So I thought I’d post a bit of a miscellaneous collection of notes that I’ve scribbled down in my notebook while we’ve been in class or out and about. Now I’m not including my “academic” notes; these are just a few of the things that I had written down to look back at later as possible topics of investigation or at least consideration. And I’m writing them now the way I wrote them in my notebook the first time. These do not have to do with any one topic, buy any means, and they span at least a week and a half, but I thought it’d be interesting to get them out in the open:
Also, *disclaimer*, these might not all be totally coherent; they were mostly quickly scrawled out just to trigger a memory of something interesting. Just adds to the fun J
-18th century, lack of professionalism in science meant that implications that arose from scientific discovery were shared and debated in an overarching and collective elitist culture. “Science camp” not against or offending “Church camp.”
-Think about elitism amongst scientific community then and now, and the social importance of the clergy then and now. Changes how science is considered?
-Huxley vs. Bishop of Oxford: look up for development of “science camp.” Huxley’s a baller.
-Galen anatomy challenged by Vesalius, Galen made mistakes from dissecting apes and extending findings to people. What does this say about how Galen, and society at that time, viewed the relationship between humans and apes?
-Humphrey Davy: “Davey would later relate his love of science to his fascination with story-telling. What he always wanted to do was to hold an audience spellbound with wonders.”
Studies of air and various gasses, Davy inhales hydrocarbon, CO2, CO, etc. BALLER, scares the crap out of me.
Inhaled 3 quarts of hydrocarbon, almost died, then “next week he was trying to inhale carbonic acid.” Yeah, this is a genius…
-Davey vs. Stevenson- look up
Davey vs. Faraday- mentor vs. mentee
Murderer act of 1752: murderers’ bodies go to the surgeons/anatomists
Anatomy act of 1832: very poor who lived in work-houses became state property and went to anatomists after death if not claimed by family within 48 hours.
Two ideas: Davey being generally disagreeable and murderer and anatomy acts. Delve farther into Davey’s personality and Faraday’s rise to success, discuss the huge time gap between the murderer and anatomy acts, must have been a HUGE need for bodies in between.
-Modesty doll: at our tour to the college of physicians, our guide showed us a modesty doll from the Symons collection. She told us it was used in the 17th or 18th centuries in Europe so that patients could point to where their problems were so they would not have to speak the names of their body parts, quite an embarrassing experience. Later found out guide was wrong, modesty dolls actually used in 19th century in China, not Europe… Chinese women not permitted to mention body parts.
Origin’s of modesty? Why are people so reluctant to speak about the human body?
-Status between doctors (physicians), surgeons, and apothecaries, physicians get gold canes, surgeons silver, apothecaries iron.
-1830 Ivory pregnancy test: test to determine gender. Ivory pendant held over belly, orientation of pendant determines gender. “Quack treatment.”
-idea: Jenner experimentation on children vs. Davey self-experimentation
-Look into public health story centered around vaccination, everyone must be vaccinated to help the population eradicate disease as a whole, vs. vaccination now, peeps that don’t want vaccinations (Kim), how do peeps today get into school that haven’t been immunized?
-“Ohh” moment- Jenner’s publication on vaccination met w/ skepticism. “Some physicians were skeptical; others had financial interests in virulation.” Any time it’s not in a person’s best financial interest to back something, they probably won’t. Oil companies today vs. alternative energy.
-Poor law, like welfare, incentivized poor to stay on relief.
Chadwick central to creation of workhouses, purposely horrible to incentives poor to “get out” of poverty. This reform was meant to lessen burden on taxpayers by making less poor claim relief because workhouses were undesirable.
Chadwick also realized that disease, when it strikes a laboring bread-winner, creates more poverty and thus costs taxpayers more money. Does research that shows sanitation associated with disease. Public Health Act 1848- proposed cleaning up=less disease=less poverty=less $ spent.
Great stink: Parliament disgusted, evacuated parliament building from smell, sanitation initiatives adopted 1858. Took 7 years to get sewer up and running after great stink. Compare to waiting period waiting for permit before driver’s license.
idea: We look back at the urban poor in filth and wonder, why did it take so long for people to be horrified and help clean them up? Answer: they never did. Chadwick only helped them because it would help taxpayers, and Parliament helped them to help themselves it seems. More research necessary.
-idea: Bazalgette doubles estimate for how big sewers need to be. Victorians made containers even 10 times overstrong for safety cuz didn’t understand materials.
Then: better safe than sorry, we only want to build things once.
Now: Better cheap and fast than good, gets us into problems (BP oil spill)
-Today’s excursion: Surgeons had to amputate a leg in under 1 minute? Nuts! Immediate thought: wouldn’t patient die of pain? Surgeons were aware, had to be quick. And with screaming and all!
American surgery more painful, point of pride. Comforting for patients?
Medical nihilism: physician responsible for damage inflicted by medicine, damage from disease (passive) not doctor’s fault=cop out…
-Microsoft vs. Apple, Brunell vs. 4’ 8.5’’ track. Dad’s comp issues, new laptop is a PC, can’t use apple because “business is done on PCs.” Barrier to entry/change: hard to overcome preexisting infrastructure.
I thought some of these ideas were worth pondering anyway. This is probably a skippable blog, but if nothing else, it helped me go over some of my notes. Now I can elaborate on some of the ideas I find especially interesting.
Out.
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