Customer Reviews

The Life of Sir William Osler

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This textbook, for that is what it really is, will enrapture the novice and expert seeker of medical history. Dr. Cushing has written about Dr. Osler in a honest, warm and human manner. Current students of medicine will revel in the tidbits of knowledge and in the practice of medicine in the early 1900's. Dr. Osler's life and his exploits are legendary in the medical community and this book gives tribute to a person who touched others in a most positive manner. Required reading for all M.D.'s.

These two volumes arrived on time in the condition stated and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. It gave a wonderful look into a great man's life. I enjoyed it immensely.

Dr. Harvey Cushing wrote this book about his mentor, the Canadian physician Dr. William Osler. Once one gets past his breathless, fawning, hyperbolic style, the facts emerge: Osler was a maniac for human dissection. Any time of day or night, once someone expired they were thrown on the dissecting table and he put on a show for his many worshipful acolytes. No doubt, the human anatomy can only be studied by dissection...but did he have to relish it? I was interested in reading this book because of a quote excerpted from it in the 1960's Time/Life series, The Physician. Unfortunately the author of that book chose to do a "...." quotation that made Osler look like he cared for a patient, an indigent black man who had a fatal disease. Reading the entire text, it is clear that he only wanted to cut him up after the fact for his own morbid curiosity. A great example of how quotations can be misrepresented. In short, the book was overly long but illuminating. Cushing did not seem to use good sense in his portrait of the man, but perhaps his view of him as untouchable and unquestionable led to his many lapses of judgement in sharing so many strange stories. The only triumph is that Osler never had a disease named after him, no doubt a slice of immortality that he craved. He has a sad substitute, the minor "Osler's Sign". If you liked this book, you might enjoy "Sweeney Todd"