SayWhatClub Online Voices July 2010
Book Review
Dorothy Black
Copyright 2010
WILLIAM OSLER: A Life in Medicine
by Michael Bliss
Sometimes one person influences the world in ways far greater than seems possible for a single individual. So it was in regard to William Osler.
Described as "the world's most famous physician in his time", Dr. Osler (1849-1919) stood out in the history of medicine as a great teacher and writer in three countries - his natal Canada, the United States and Great Britain. We have all heard of this extraordinary man and benefited from his contributions to medicine and humankind. He was indeed great, a man seemingly without limitations who taught and wrote about medicine for 70 years and pulled the profession into the modern age.
Although born in the backwoods of Canada, Osler showed no sign of being held back by his humble beginnings. His medical career took him to Montreal's McGill University, Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins Hospital and University in Baltimore. At Oxford he was Regius Professor of Medicine. Everywhere he was adored by his students and recognized by his peers as brilliant and modern. His teaching methods included having medical students learn by working over the patients themselves - clinical medicine was a science and healing art. His 1892 book, The Principles and Practice of Medicine, was described as "the first great textbook of modern medicine".
Charismatic, William Osler was friend and physician to both ordinary and exalted people - from the poor to royalty. The times he lived in honed his humanity and many idolized him. He loved children and always had time for them. As for his personal life, he married late the widow of an illustrious colleague. Grace Revere Gross was "an American blue-blood" and well suited to be the wife of another famous physician. Eventually they had a son, Revere, who was killed in World War I.
Author Michael Bliss, a history professor at the University of Toronto with other fine biographies to his credit, tells the story of William Osler's life capably and well. This is a book not only for students of medical history but for lay readers looking for an in-depth biography of an extraordinary person or simply an enjoyable read.
WILLIAM OSLER: A Life in Medicine
by Michael Bliss
Copyright Michael Bliss 1999 Toronto
University of Toronto Press
ISBN 0-8020-4349-6