Lawrence, CJ

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Medical Historyhttp://journals.cambridge.org/MDHAdditional services for Medical History:Email alerts: Click hereSubscriptions: Click hereCommercial reprints: Click hereTerms of use : Click hereElin L Wolfe, A Clifford Barger and Saul Benison, WalterB. Cannon. Volume 2: Science and society, BostonMedical Library in the Francis A Countway Library ofMedicine, 2000, pp. x, 644, illus., £19.95 (hardback0-674-00251-2). Distributed by Harvard University Press.Christopher LawrenceMedical History / Volume 46 / Issue 01 / January 2002, pp 111 - 112DOI: 10.1017/S0025727300068824, Published online: 16 November 2012Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0025727300068824How to cite this article:Christopher Lawrence (2002). Medical History, 46, pp 111-112 doi:10.1017/S0025727300068824Request Permissions : Click hereDownloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/MDH, IP address: 144.82.107.68 on 12 Nov 2013Book Reviewsrecognized method of taking notes from thedistinguished Professor ofPhysiology wasto follow in his manual and cross outwhatever he did not say.") By the earlytwentieth century, the pre-clinical school atCambridge occupied a position of nationalprominence, enjoying funding, patronage,and prizes.As well, an ambitious new generation ofmedical faculty sought to establish acomplete clinical school at Cambridge, tostem the migration to London. In 1884, aseries of clinical lectureships wereestablished in seeming fulfilment of thisambition. But the clinical school neverprospered and, from the turn of the century,clinical posts were left vacant or abolishedaltogether. The clinicians could not get aproper foothold in the hospital, which wasrun by charitable laymen. Therefore,leading British clinicians refused Cambridgeappointments. The very success ofthe pre-clinical school also hindered thedevelopment of the clinical school. Thescientists waged a successful battle forautonomy and control of the curriculum,blocking the clinicians' ambitions. In 1884,when the two schools supported rivalcandidates for the chair ofpathology, thescientists won, ensuring that this strategicdiscipline remained in the hands of aphysiological pathologist. Even after clinicalresearch became established in the Londonteaching hospitals, Cambridge clinicianswere too weak to introduce it on the Cam.The account breaks offin 1940 when theRegius Professor of Physic, John Ryle, quitin disgust over the rejection of his plans fora clinical research school.Weatherall draws on recent scholarshipwhich, by revealing struggles betweenclinicians and scientists to control medicalpractice, tempers traditional accounts of thetriumphant march of medical science.Weatherall, however, largely ignores practiceand focuses on University administration,understanding administration as the arenafor formal confrontation over the controland meaning of the curriculum. Thisapproach may exaggerate the importance ofintention and agency among the facultywaging their administrative battles.Weatherall notes that the shortage of bodieswas one practical restraint upon expansionin the early years; did laboratory or clinicalor examination practices impose others inlater years? As a contested site, pathologygets some attention, but otherstraightforwardly medical or scientific fieldssuch as midwifery do not. The reader is leftto wonder about the extent to which theseother fields were organized aroundadministrative, or pedagogical, or researchagendas. This caveat aside, Weatherall'slively and well-written account makes animportant contribution to the history ofmedical education in Britain.Elsbeth Heaman,Queen's University,Kingston, OntarioElin L Wolfe, A Clifford Barger and SaulBenison, Walter B. Cannon. Volume 2:Science andsociety, Boston Medical Libraryin the Francis A Countway Library ofMedicine, 2000, pp. x, 644, illus., £19.95(hardback 0-674-00251-2). Distributed byHarvard University Press.The authors of this, the second volume ofa biography of the distinguished Harvardphysiologist Walter Cannon, take noprisoners. They begin where they left off, soanyone who has not read volume one(published by the Belknap Press in almostidentical format in 1987) and knowsnothing of Cannon begins in the dark. Thisis true in a second sense for it opens withthe First World War and Cannon workingon shock in his own laboratory. In 1917after the Americans entered the war,Cannon went to France where he continuedto work on the problem. Cannonconsidered shock was caused by acidosis,the loss of the alkaline buffering power of111Book Reviewsthe blood (the blood does not, however, inthe authors' words become "acidic" p. 12), aposition he reluctantly renounced. Thechapters on the war, like every other one inthis book, are wonderfully rich. TheCannon archives have permitted the authorsto construct the man's life and work inenviable detail. The tiniest anecdotes are sotelling. Leaving for the war, Cannonrevealed "I made a horrible mistake thisnoon ... in the presence of others I calledMajor Cushing, Harvey, I will never do thatagain" (p. 7). Chronicling the war years, theauthors trace Cannon's various postings inFrance and catalogue him cementingalliances with old and new friends: T RElliot, Joseph Barcroft, Walter Fletcher, J SHaldane (but never Lord Haldane, only hisbrother made it to the upper house). Thisbook is a must for anyone working onscience in Europe; it is not just anAmerican story.As well written as the first volume andhaving only a couple of minor blemishes inover 600 pages, this volume is the morefascinating of the two. This is so becausemuch of Cannon's mature physiologicaltheorizing was done in the inter-war years,because he was such a prominentinternational figure, and because thepolitical crises of these years drew outCannon's own political views. How far allthese were related the authors do notspeculate any further than Cannon himselfdid. The inter-war years saw Cannondevelop his theory of homeostasis, the ideaof the integration of the various bodilysystems conserving a harmonious statusquo. It was this that Cannon was later tosuggest might be applicable to theunderstanding of societies. Whether, longbefore he expressed the latter view, Cannonat some level thought about Americansociety in the same way as he thought aboutthe body is left by the authors to thereader's imagination.The inter-war years saw Cannonimmensely active at Harvard and on theinternational scientific scene. He wasendlessly in demand by committees, thoughfar from being a yes man. He wasdiplomatic even when forceful in, forexample, his defence of pure laboratorysciences over those who perpetrated the"grave error" of thinking laboratory workshould be done only to solve "practicalproblems" (p. 69). Cannon's life was not justspent in the lab and on committees; he hada home life. This latter is narrated in itshappy detail too, including the fact thatMrs Cannon (Cornelia) after raising thechildren became a successful novelist.Perhaps the most fascinating chapters inthis book are those that throw light onsections of the American population'sinsular, anti-Semitic and xenophobicmentality in the inter-war years. Cannon byany stretch of the imagination was apolitical moderate, most often votingRepublican. He was also warm-hearted bynature. The plight of Republican refugeesfrom the Spanish Civil War and manyRussian scientists under Stalin generated hiscompassion and much more. He workedtirelessly for the relief of both groups. Forhis pains he was regarded by some as acommunist sympathizer. This is a majorbiography of a major figure. The authorshave done him proud.Christopher Lawrence,The Wellcome Trust Centre for theHistory of Medicine at UCLMichael French and Jim Phillips, Cheatednotpoisoned? Food regulation in the UnitedKingdom, 1875-1938, Manchester and NewYork, Manchester University Press, 2000,pp. vii, 213, £40.00 (hardback 0-7190-5605-5).The sixteen-volume BSE Enquiry reportpublished in October 2000, followed by thegovernment's response in February 2001,both acknowledged the institutionalweakness of the state in failing to prevent112

Elin L Wolfe, A Clifford Barger and Saul Benison, Walter B. Cannon. Volume 2: Science and society, Boston Medical Library in the Francis A Countway Library of Medicine, 2000, pp. x, 644, illus., £19.95 (hardback 0-674-00251-2). Distributed by Harvard University Press.

Elin L Wolfe, A Clifford Barger and Saul Benison, Walter B. Cannon. Volume 2: Science and society, Boston Medical Library in the Francis A Countway Library of Medicine, 2000, pp. x, 644, illus., £19.95 (hardback 0-674-00251-2). Distributed by Harvard University Press.

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