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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Photograph of a teenage boy wearing a red t-shirt and black shorts, standing in a garden. Above him is a washing line with pegs and towels.
  • Photo story

Obesity and Britain’s boys

Six young men and six experiences of being overweight. Find out how these boys and their loved ones feel about this stigmatising issue.

Tremble comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Tremble

Not all trembles are the same. What was the last thing that made you tremble?

Part of Body Squabbles

Brain illustration by Emily Evans
  • Serial
Part4

The mystery of the malignant brain

In 1884 a neurologist successfully used a patient’s symptoms, plus a new kind of map, to locate a brain tumour. Discover how his best-laid plans for treatment worked out.

Part of Revolutions in Surgery

Photograph of small teddy bear sitting within the surroundings of a cemetery, with grave stones and ivy.
  • Essay

How we bury our children

Following her baby daughter’s funeral, Wendy Pratt found that visiting the grave gave her a way to carry out physical acts of caring for her child. Here she considers how parents’ nurturing instincts live on after a child’s death.

Coloured wood engraving showing three different scenes. The central scene shows a crowd of people gathered in a square, with hot-air balloons on the ground. The scene on the top right, has the following accompanying text: 'First Balloon Ascent in England. Sep 15, 1784'. A solitary air-balloon can be seen in the air, as people look on- one man is waving the Union Jack. The third scene at the bottom right, has the following accompanying caption: ‘Lhoste’s Farewell from the Colonel’. It shows an air balloon in flight, as a man is seen waving from it.
  • Image gallery

The death-defying science of the aeronauts

Air ballooning is not as serene as you might think. Read about the perilous exploits of two early aeronauts who risked life and limb to better understand the science of the weather.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Language comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Language

Our bodies convey stories through an alphabet of shrugs and shoulder poems. If your shoulders could talk, what poems would they tell?

Part of Body Squabbles

Stomach illustration by Emily Evans
  • Serial
Part3

The case of the cancerous stomach

Steak and schnitzel were on the menu again after Theodor Billroth successfully excised a woman’s stomach cancer in 1881. Remarkably, today’s surgeons still perform the same procedure, with slight modifications.

Part of Revolutions in Surgery

  • Interview

Meet the climate emergency

Find out what led Yinka Shonibare to create the compelling artwork ‘Refugee Astronaut’.

Part of Behind the Scenes

Image of four men and a woman experiencing making strange faces.
  • Image gallery

Humans, animals and the sensory world

Artists and medics through the ages have made links between our discerning human senses and similar traits in animals. Discover how close we are to the earth’s other inhabitants.

Part of Inside Our Collections

A panel from Swear by Rob Bidder
  • Comic

Swear

While we may censor and bleep them, we all have our sweary moments. Words for times when polite language doesn’t quite cut it. Can you remember the last thing that made you swear?

Part of Body Squabbles

Blood vessels illustration by Emily Evans
  • Serial
Part2

The blight of the ballooning blood vessels

In 1817 an emergency operation on a London porter was hailed a ‘success’ despite the patient’s swift demise. Find out how this case became a landmark in vascular surgery.

Part of Revolutions in Surgery

Photograph of a bright red high visibility vest against a dark grey background. The vest is lit from behind revealing the silhouette of a model of a human heart. The reflective strips on the front of the vest are bright with white light.
  • Book extract

Healing hearts and saving lives

Cardiology is a prestigious specialism, known for its life-saving, heroic staff. But a doctor’s training eventually reveals other, less obvious ways to save lives.

Part of Inside Our Books

Black and white photograph of a portrait postcard of a seated man in a dress, wearing a large hat with floral decoration. He is holding and umbrella in his right hand. The bottom of the postcard is inscribed with the words, 'Summerdown Kate'.
  • Image gallery

From female impersonation to drag

How did drag develop from light-hearted female impersonation to a world-dominating art form?

Part of Inside Our Collections

Panel from Strike by Rob Bidder which is blank.
  • Comic

Strike

No Body Squabbles today. Consider shouting in the city centre instead.

Part of Body Squabbles

Bladder illustration by Emily Evans
  • Serial
Part1

The extraction of the excruciating bladder stones

Among those vying to find alternatives to major surgery for bladder stones, young doctor Jean Civiale stood out, painstakingly honing a method that was to become the norm.

Part of Revolutions in Surgery

Photograph of an illustrated Pen and ink poster from 1918 showing a monster representing an influenza virus hitting a man over the head as he sits in his armchair. Above the poster is a tablet device. On its screen is a social media page showing the same illustration with comments about the flu virus within a 'fake news' comment thread.
  • Essay

Fake news and the flu

Discover how history shows that fake news could play a deadly role – by generating potentially lethal misinformation during a future pandemic.

Illustration of Lillias Hamilton surrounded by greenery.
  • Image gallery

Faces from the archives

Meet some of the lesser-known but no less extraordinary figures in the history of medicine, through a series of original portraits.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Photograph of a multiframe photo frame containing nine photographs, one in colour and eight in black and white. The frame is hung on a crimson wall above a glass patterned tabletop.
  • Essay

Words of hope and anger

Author and spoken word poet Penny Pepper remembers her childhood dreams, and speaks out against the barriers society uses to prevent disabled people from fulfilling their potential.

Part of Different Voices

Photograph of a multi-frame photo frame containing nine photographs, eight in colour and one in black and white. The frame is hung on a light green coloured wall above a blue tabletop.
  • Essay

Fleeing fear, defying prejudice

As teenage refugee Sedra Al-Yousef grappled with rebuilding her life and education in another country, at the same time she used compassion and humanity to demolish populist anti-refugee myths.

Part of Different Voices

Photograph of a multiframe photo frame containing eight photographs, seven in colour and one in black and white. The frame is hung on a cyan-coloured wall above a wood block tabletop.
  • Essay

A story of death, trauma and austerity

Marienna Pope-Weidemann, whose teenage cousin Gaia died after going missing, advocates a rethink of our systems, which currently fail many in mental distress.

Part of Different Voices