Musing of a Contemporary Pathologist

Category Art

Medical Trivia #5: Johannes Lijdius Catherinus Pompe van Meerdervoort; a story of serendipity

Jeopardy category: Medical trivia Jeopardy answer: Johannes Lijdius Catherinus Pompe van Meerdervoort, the Netherlands Correct response: Who established the foundation for modern medical practice in Japan and from what country was he?   Many writers—generally of a certain (relatively advanced)… Continue Reading →

Medical trivia #4: Billroth and Brahms

                          Using language to convey the magic of Brahms would be like using a wooden classroom ruler to measure the speed of light.          … Continue Reading →

Sweet Emma

The mostly unadorned, dark room slopes down from back to front. There’s room for perhaps 200 people but, as I soon learned, most stand and only about twenty people get to sit in the front, on the floor, on scattered… Continue Reading →

The greatest entertainer …

Some months ago, PBS broadcast a concert with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. Bennett, who is 92 and about to begin a national tour, has, of course, been a major force in American music for many decades. Other than hearing… Continue Reading →

O. HENRY

Among my many inherited traits is a love of movies. Although not likely to be DNA-based, this characteristic, which was so strong in my mother, is one that I value highly and  that gives me great pleasure. I particularly love… Continue Reading →

Diahann Carroll, Jaguar motor cars, Hillary and me

In the Random House Unabridged Dictionary the fifteenth, and final, definition for “crush” is: 15. Informal. a. an intense but usually short-lived infatuation. b. the object of such an infatuation. Diahann Carroll Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960)… Continue Reading →

Medical Trivia #3: Hadrian’s Earlobe

            The Roman Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus) was born in Italica-Hispanica (modern day Seville, Spain) in 76 CE and died at his villa in Baiae, an ancient Roman town on the Gulf of Naples,… Continue Reading →

Peter, Paul and Mary

Last week, my wife, Kate, and I went to hear a concert given by Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey. The night of February 17 was miserable because of a ferocious, record-breaking rainstorm and high winds. We started out for… Continue Reading →

Medical Trivia #2: Cyrano de Bergerac and microscopy

In 1897 the French poet and dramatist, Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (1868-1918) wrote what would be his most popular work, the romantic play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand was born in Marseille and his father was a renowned economist and poet…. Continue Reading →

Trepanation – (or releasing demons)

  Trepanation, or trephining, may well represent the earliest wound inflicted by one human being on another for the purpose of healing and can be considered the beginning of the practice of surgery and the earliest tangible evidence of medical… Continue Reading →

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