Picturing Medical Progress from Pasteur to Polio

This book is analytical, nostalgic, sensitive, and just plain fun. Bert Hansen's meticulous privileging of the visual is a pathbreaking achievement for methods in the social and cultural history of medicine. You can be rewarded simply by looking at the wonderful pictures, but you will 'see' so much more in his lively prose. Jacalyn Duffin, Hannah Professor, Queen's University

Even as a long-time collector of medical prints, I learned a lot from this extraordinary book. Hansen's digging has turned up many discoveries, providing a new perspective on graphic art in popular culture. The images are wonderful, but this is not just a picture book; it's a great read as well, filled with remarkable insights.
William Helfand, author of five books on medical imagery and a trustee of the Philadelphia Museum

'Picturing Medical Progress from Pasteur to Polio is an authoritative, well-written account that will be a significant contribution not only to the history of American medicine, but to the history of American popular culture.' Elizabeth Toon, Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Manch

This skillfully written volume reminds us how books such as Microbe Hunters, films such as Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, and even some of the old comic books and Life magazines in our basements once celebrated medical history and inspired the young to study science and medicine. Bert Hansen's rich exploration of the intersection of popular culture and the history of medicine opens wide a window on a time between the 1880s and the 1950s when physicians, nurses, and scientists were highly regarded warriors against disease and human suffering. It is a major contribution to our understanding of how medicine's cultural authority was established and expanded in the United States, vital to scholars and valuable to those who hope to spark a renewed enthusiasm among Americans for the study of science and medicine. Alan M. Kraut, professor of history, American University

That doctors and their work routinely populate all forms of popular American culture is a historical aberration. Bert Hansen begins his illustrated account of the start of this phenomenon with the observation that until late in the 19th century, no one really wanted any more contact with doctors than was necessary-certainly not in publications intended to entertain. Louis Pasteur changed all that. As scientific triumphs accumulated, the hagiography of the doctor spread throughout the media, from print advertisements to radio spots, from comic books to adoring photo essays in Life magazine. Abigail Zuger, New York Times

Hansen's narrative reveals a remarkably rich engagement between laboratory work and the curiosity of ordinary citizens. Hansen's work is well grounded in primary research and includes the footnotes expected by medical historians, but at the same time it is completely accessible to any reader interested in the history of medicine. Hansen has done an admirable job of excavating the role played by images of medical progress in the popular media. Picturing Medical Progress From Pasteur to Polio is both a remarkable work of medical history and an entertaining account of medicine's golden age viewed through the eyes of the public. Margaret Humphreys, Journal of the American Medical Association

At the start, the practice of medicine is accorded little positive public recognition. The medical profession as pictured in magazines and newspapers is ineffective and unprofessional, in collusion with the funeral industry, and tolerant of inferior public health. By the 1950s, with the advent of the Salk polio vaccine, medicine has become a highly esteemed profession grounded in scientific research. Hansen documents the transition, making a detailed examination of images in both print and film media. Recommended. Choice

For historians of all kinds, whether of science, of medicine, or of media, Hansen's book provides a strong argument for paying more attention to images. American Journalism

This is the best synthetic treatment we have of the role the mass media played in shaping and promoting the high esteem enjoyed by the American medical profession across the first half of the twentieth century. Hansen has given us both a richly detailed account of the images widely circulated to the public and a convincing analysis of the aggregate image those pictures of medicine fostered. Bulletin of the History of Medicine

Hansen presents material previously unexplored by medical historians, while maintaining a clear narrative style. Chemical Heritage Magazine

This book is analytical, nostalgic, sensitive, and just plain fun. Bert Hansen's meticulous privileging of the visual is a pathbreaking achievement for methods in the social and cultural history of medicine. You can be rewarded simply by looking at the wonderful pictures, but you will 'see' so much more in his lively prose. Jacalyn Duffin, Hannah Professor, Queen's University

Even as a long-time collector of medical prints, I learned a lot from this extraordinary book. Hansen's digging has turned up many discoveries, providing a new perspective on graphic art in popular culture. The images are wonderful, but this is not just a picture book; it's a great read as well, filled with remarkable insights.
William Helfand, author of five books on medical imagery and a trustee of the Philadelphia Museum

'Picturing Medical Progress from Pasteur to Polio is an authoritative, well-written account that will be a significant contribution not only to the history of American medicine, but to the history of American popular culture.' Elizabeth Toon, Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Manch

This skillfully written volume reminds us how books such as Microbe Hunters, films such as Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, and even some of the old comic books and Life magazines in our basements once celebrated medical history and inspired the young to study science and medicine. Bert Hansen's rich exploration of the intersection of popular culture and the history of medicine opens wide a window on a time between the 1880s and the 1950s when physicians, nurses, and scientists were highly regarded warriors against disease and human suffering. It is a major contribution to our understanding of how medicine's cultural authority was established and expanded in the United States, vital to scholars and valuable to those who hope to spark a renewed enthusiasm among Americans for the study of science and medicine. Alan M. Kraut, professor of history, American University

That doctors and their work routinely populate all forms of popular American culture is a historical aberration. Bert Hansen begins his illustrated account of the start of this phenomenon with the observation that until late in the 19th century, no one really wanted any more contact with doctors than was necessary-certainly not in publications intended to entertain. Louis Pasteur changed all that. As scientific triumphs accumulated, the hagiography of the doctor spread throughout the media, from print advertisements to radio spots, from comic books to adoring photo essays in Life magazine. Abigail Zuger, New York Times

Hansen's narrative reveals a remarkably rich engagement between laboratory work and the curiosity of ordinary citizens. Hansen's work is well grounded in primary research and includes the footnotes expected by medical historians, but at the same time it is completely accessible to any reader interested in the history of medicine. Hansen has done an admirable job of excavating the role played by images of medical progress in the popular media. Picturing Medical Progress From Pasteur to Polio is both a remarkable work of medical history and an entertaining account of medicine's golden age viewed through the eyes of the public. Margaret Humphreys, Journal of the American Medical Association

At the start, the practice of medicine is accorded little positive public recognition. The medical profession as pictured in magazines and newspapers is ineffective and unprofessional, in collusion with the funeral industry, and tolerant of inferior public health. By the 1950s, with the advent of the Salk polio vaccine, medicine has become a highly esteemed profession grounded in scientific research. Hansen documents the transition, making a detailed examination of images in both print and film media. Recommended. Choice

The work is an authoritative, well-written account that will not only be a significant contribution to the history of American medicine, but to the history of American popular culture. It is nostalgic, analytical, and just plain fun with remarkable insights and delightful illustrations from newspaper sketches, caricatures, comic books and Hollywood films. Teri Maggio (PLA), 2010 AAUP Best of the Best Guide

For historians of all kinds, whether of science, of medicine, or of media, Hansen's book provides a strong argument for paying more attention to images. American Journalism

This is the best synthetic treatment we have of the role the mass media played in shaping and promoting the high esteem enjoyed by the American medical profession across the first half of the twentieth century. Hansen has given us both a richly detailed account of the images widely circulated to the public and a convincing analysis of the aggregate image those pictures of medicine fostered. Bulletin of the History of Medicine

Hansen presents material previously unexplored by medical historians, while maintaining a clear narrative style. Chemical Heritage Magazine