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Stories

  • Article

Mask, ritual and fertility

Today many of us learn about fertility, conception and pregnancy online. But that wasn’t always the way. Discover how masks and rituals played an important educational role.

  • Article

The law of periodicity for menstruation

Dr Edward Clarke's Law of Periodicity claimed that females who were educated alongside their male peers were developing their minds at the expense of their reproductive organs.

  • Book extract

Tracing the roots of our fears and fixations

Kate Summerscale explores the history of our anxieties and compulsions, and the new phobias and manias that are always emerging.

  • Article

Revelations of blindness in the Middle Ages

Medieval texts, from Islamic medical treatises to Christian books of miracles, reveal surprisingly varied and complex experiences of blindness. But when medieval scholar Jude Seal experienced visual impairment themselves, they gained an even deeper understanding of the lives they were studying.

All stories (91)

Images

  • John Coakley Lettsom, physician, with his family, in the garden of Grove Hill, Camberwell.
  • The Medical Society of London: John Coakley Lettsom presenting to the society the deeds of 3 Bolt Court, City of London. Stipple engraving by N.C. Branwhite, 1801, after S. Medley, 1800.
  • H.M.S. Dreadnought, a hospital ship, being towed from Greenwich to Chatham by tugs. Wood engraving by J. Greenaway, with letterpress and view of St Paul's Cathedral in title area, 1872.
  • Rita Levi-Montalcini.
  • Anatomy lessons at St Dunstan's. Oil painting by J.H. Lobley, 1919.
  • Anatomy lessons at St Dunstan's. Oil painting by J.H. Lobley, 1919.
  • Anatomy lessons at St Dunstan's. Oil painting by J.H. Lobley, 1919.
  • John Hunter, father of William and John Hunter. Oil painting by James Hunter.
  • John Hunter, father of William and John Hunter. Oil painting by James Hunter.
  • Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London.
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Catalogue

All works (2.6K)