Stories
- In pictures
The original drama of operating theatres
Medicine as ‘theatre’ began in the 16th century, when paying audiences enjoyed candlelight, live music – and a cadaver being dissected in front of them, all the in name of education.
- In pictures
How chloroform shaped the murder mystery
Find out how a sweet-smelling liquid anaesthetic captured the public’s imagination and changed pop culture for ever.
- Article
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.
- Article
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.
Catalogue
- Film
Extraction of anaesthetic gases from operating theatres.
Date: 1975- Film
Only a film! : hazards to patients in operating theatres.
Date: 1978- Archives and manuscripts
The Directory of Operating Theatres and Departments of Surgery
The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCLDate: 1991Reference: GC/253/A/42/7/13Part of: Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine Seminars- Archives and manuscripts
The Directory of Operating Theatres and Departments of Surgery
The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCLDate: 1996Reference: GC/253/A/42/7/15Part of: Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine Seminars- Archives and manuscripts
The Directory of Operating Theatres and Departments of Surgery
The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCLDate: 1994Reference: GC/253/A/42/7/14Part of: Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine Seminars