Articles

Our words and pictures explore the connections between science, medicine, life and art. Dive into one no matter where in the world you are.

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Reminder comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Reminder

Feeling dizzy yet?

Part of Body Squabbles

Pencil artwork drawn over a lithograph depicting a large hall with stage. On the stage is a person standing at a lectern using a stick to point at a large (in scale) unclothed woman standing on a table with her arm covering her face. The woman belly has been depicted as red. At the foot of the stage is a crowd of men listening to the presentation. There are more figures working at various desks around the large hall, including one man using a microscope, another looking through a large telescope, and two others a standing over a large globe. Above the stage there is a clock that reads the time 14.45, and latin text that reads 'AMOR DOCTRINE EST ORNAMENTUM PUERI'. The whole scene is black and white with exception of the light being emitted from behind the stage, and the belly of the woman which are shades of orange and red.
  • Serial
Part3

Getting the measure of pain

In the 20th century doctors tried to find a way to measure pain. But even when ‘objective’ measures were rejected, an accurate understanding of another’s pain remained frustratingly elusive.

Part of Painful realities

Photograph of Misbehaving Bodies curator George Vasey sitting in the exhibition space. Behind him are the works of Jo Spence; in the form of photographs and tear sheets hung on white panels, and Oreet Ashery; in the form of a projection of a white figure moving against a white screen.
  • Interview

Inside the mind of George Vasey, curator of Misbehaving Bodies

Discover how curator George Vasey honoured the approaches of Jo Spence and Oreet Ashery, who mischievously subvert clichés around illness and death.

Part of Behind the Scenes

Photograph of a section of a Dutch watercolour in an ornate gilded frame. The painting depicts a 17th century birthing scene. In the top right of the frame is a lady in a period blue dress sitting up in a pink four-poster bed, talking to a maiden on her left side who is holding a baby wrapped in an orange blanket. There are four other ladies in the room; the central figure in a black dress, red skirt, and white ruff collar is leaning over to another lady in a golden dress on her right handing out food on a silver tray. In the bottom right of the scene is a lady in a pink and blue dress interacting with a small child.
  • Image gallery

Superstition, contagion and medical rumour

The great generator of confusion, rumours have not spared human health from their chaos. Find out how whispers, gossip and rumours have caused medical mishaps through the ages.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Gym comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Gym

You run, you lift, you sweat, you gym. You are a human generator.

Part of Body Squabbles

Pencil artwork drawn over an engraving depicting an old anatomy theatre with two men in the centre, by a table looking up towards a large (in scale) unclothed woman standing on the table, arms held away from her body. The whole scene is black and white apart from her torso and left breast, and thin cords woven into some railings which are tinted red.
  • Serial
Part2

The pain that punished feminists

In a society that viewed getting the vote, and pursuing an education and career, as unnatural goals for women, the pain of endometriosis was viewed as nature’s retribution.

Part of Painful realities

Photograph of Bexleyheath Christian Spiritualist Church at night. The two storey building is set in a residential street, detached but sandwiched between other residential buildings. The second storey shows a brightly lit window with a cross shaped light showing in the window. To the right of the building are two cars.
  • Essay

Close encounters of the spiritualist kind

When it comes to practical and emotional advice, Daphne heeds the words of her lost loved ones. Find out how a spiritualist medium helps her stay in touch.

Photograph of a section of an oil painting in a gilded ornate frame, against a wood panelled wall. The painting depicts a pharmacy circa 1700. The walls of the shop are lined with blue and brown vases. There are five figures in the painting in period clothing. A gentleman in a top hat is sat at a desk with a hand on a small vase. A maid is half showing, peering through a door. Another gentleman is stirring a golden pot with a large ladle. The final two figures of a lady and an officer are interacting in the centre of the painting.
  • Image gallery

The aphrodisiac apothecary

Not in the mood? Come and visit our traditional drug store for natural tonics rumoured to increase sexual desire.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Footpath comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Footpath

They drew it with their feet, one step at a time

Part of Body Squabbles

Pencil artwork drawn over an engraving depicting a wooden panelled room with two men in the distance looking towards an unclothed woman lying on her side on a table, clutching a pillow to her front. The whole scene is black and white apart from the pillow and the rays of light streaming in through a window which are tinted red.
  • Serial
Part1

Thousands of years of women’s pain

Even in the 21st century, women with severe monthly pain find their suffering minimised or dismissed by the medical profession. Such pain is seen as simply a natural part of being female.

Part of Painful realities

Photograph of a curved lead healing plate about ten centimetres square, sitting flat on a piece of conservation paper. Below the lead plate, to the left, is the manuscript from which the original instructions to make the plate can be found. The lead plate has been inscribed with 5 crosses; one diagonal cross in each corner with lines leading to a central, right-way-up, cross.
  • Essay

A medieval guide to practical magic

With few sources of effective help available when treating an injured patient, the medieval physician could instead stage a healing ceremony using a practical how-to guide he carried with him.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Photograph of a watercolour depicting Chinese medicine where a practitioner massages a patient's shoulder. Watercolour by Zhou Pei Qun, ca. 1890.
  • Image gallery

Medical manipulations and the history of physiotherapy

From gymnastics to splints and uterine massage, the history of physiotherapy takes in a surprisingly broad range of people and practices.

Part of Inside Our Collections

  • Comic

Hello

Chatting with nature is easier than we think

Part of Body Squabbles

Photograph of a man from the thigh up wearing a vest which has a very muscly male torso printed on it. The man is ripping the vest open to reveal his own torso beneath. His face is hidden in shadow.
  • Essay

The gym of cartoon men

In men, body dysmorphia can be expressed as ‘bigorexia’ – the belief that your body is too weak and thin – or anorexia. Andrew McMillan explores two sides of the same coin.

Part of Explaining Men

Photograph of a man in an orange shirt and grey trousers sat on a desk in a classroom. behind him on the white board is written the words, 'masculinity' and 'identity'.
  • Essay

Confronting male stereotypes in the classroom

Sometimes men just don’t like football. Writer and teacher Okechukwu Nzelu decides to be himself in front of his students.

Part of Explaining Men

Photograph divided into six vertical strips. Each strip shows and head and upper body of a different individual.
  • Essay

Transitioning and the family album

“It’s really hard to describe to people how you know you’re a man when those ways of describing masculinity to me aren’t true. You need to find your own.”

Part of Explaining Men

Photograph of four male builders from the neck down against a grey background. Each man is wearing a different outfit depending upon his trade.
  • Essay

Butch drag in the builders’ caff

Two men in a café dressed in practical workwear might seem indistinguishable, but closer inspection reveals layers of complex, nuanced identity.

Part of Explaining Men

Photograph of a man sitting in a dining room with his arms around his son, sitting on his lap. Behind them is a bookcase and part of a world map. They are framed by the opening of a hatchway in the wall.
  • Essay

Father of the house

Stuart Evers thought he’d shaken off his family’s rigid definition of masculinity. But when he became a dad, those buried patriarchal ideas made an unexpected return.

Part of Explaining Men

Sensitive comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Sensitive

Allow yourself to feel all the feels.

Part of Body Squabbles

Pixellated photograph from a shopping mall security camera, where all adults have been crudely 'Photoshopped' out of the image, leaving one remaining child. The image has a red/pink tone applied to it.
  • Serial
Part6

Believe yourself better

There’s more to recovery than medication. In future, our unconscious minds could be recruited to put a positive spin on our health problems, helping us feel better faster.

Part of The Ethics of Deception