The New York Academy of Medicine Section on the History of Medicine and Public Health, and the Friends of the Rare Book Room, are pleased to announce the Annual Friends of the Rare Book Room Lecture, part of the Section's 2006-2007 lecture series:

Walton Schalick:
School Books, School Days: The Technology of Medical Books in Medieval Paris
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Reception 5:30 p.m., Lecture 6:00 p.m.
Cocktail reception for current Friends of the Rare Book Room, 7:15 p.m.*
New York Academy of Medicine-1216 Fifth Ave., New York

Today, the power of medicine is evoked by movies, books, television, music and a robust 'medical-industrial complex.' But how did medicine establish that power in the wake of the invention of the medical universities in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries? In this talk we will consider the growth of 'book technologies' (the invention of the concordance, the use of tables, the standardization of texts) around the establishment of the medical school at the University of Paris and how that technology gave university physicians the power to reorganize the Parisian medical marketplace. In particular, we will look at the impact of such technologies on the pharmaceutical marketplace. The authority of literate physicians in competition with largely illiterate others established a basis for modern, academically oriented medicine.

Walton O. Schalick, III, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and of History, Associate Director, and Senior Fellow for Research of the Center for the Study of Ethics & Human Values at Washington University in St. Louis. His MD and PhD (History of Medieval Medicine) are from Johns Hopkins. He has published widely on pediatrics, rehabilitation, medieval history and history of disabilities and is the recipient of numerous awards for history. He is completing his first book, Marketing Medicine, tracing the origins of academic medicine and marketplace dynamics in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century France and has published on the history of cosmetics, physiognomy and pain therapy in medieval France. His second monograph project encompasses a study of children with physical disabilities from 1800-1950 in Europe and the United States.

*Not a member? You are invited to the cocktail reception for $10.00. Join the Friends of the Rare Book Room or renew your membership; download a membership form at http://www.nyam.org/initiatives/docs/FRBR_Renewal.pdf .. RSVP by March 14 to Arlene Shaner, 212-822-7313, or by email to ashaner@nyam.org .

Save the Dates!

Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Iago Galdston Lecture
Susan Lederer, "Bombs, Blood, and Bio-Markers: Medical Preparedness in Cold-War America."

Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Gerald Oppenheimer, "Shattered Dreams?" The Impact of AIDS on the New South Africa"

ALL LECTURES AT 6 PM, RECEPTIONS AT 5:30 PM

This event is free and open to the public. For more information about NYAM programs in the history of medicine, visit our website at http://www.nyam.org/initiatives/im-histe.shtml , write history@nyam.org , or call Christian Warren at 212.822.7314.

The Academy's Rare Book Room was featured in the New York Times. To read a press release, with a link to the article, visit http://www.nyam.org/news/2258.html .

Historical programs at NYAM are supported by the Friends of the Rare Book Room. Please join the Friends now. Write cwarren@nyam.org for details, or download a membership form at http://www.nyam.org/initiatives/docs/FRBR_Renewal.pdf .

THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE 1216 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10029