Christopher Lawrence – författare

The demand for quality control of medical care has increased dramatically in recent years. In response to higher public awareness and political trends, the implementation of audit has swept through general practice in the UK, fuelled by the appearance of improved data collection systems and the greater sophistication of primary care teamwork.This concise yet comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of medical audit in the primary health care setting is edited by two university lecturers who are also practising GP's. It includes contributions from a range of practitioners who have experience of audit in action, and an appreciation of the potential pitfalls involved. This theoretical and practical guide to the challenge of medical audit has proved to be and will continue to be of value to general practitioners, trainees, and all members of the primary health care team.

Since antiquity, "disembodied knowledge" has often been taken as synonomous with "objective truth". Yet we also have very specific mental images of the kinds of bodies that house great minds - the ascetic philosopher versus the hearty surgeon, for example. Does truth have anything to do with the belly? What difference does it make to the persuit of knowledge whether Einstein rode a bicycle, Russell was randy, or Darwin was flatulent? Bringing together body and knowledge, this text offers historical answers to such skeptical questions about the relationships between body, mind and knowledge. Focusing on the 17th century to the present, the book explores how intellectuals sought to establish the value and authority of their ideas through public displays of their private ways of life. Patterns of eating, sleeping, exercising, being ill and having or avoiding sex, as well as the marks of gender and bodily form, were proof of the presence or absence of intellectual virtue, integrity, skill and authority. Intellectuals examined in detail include Rene Descartes, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Ada Lovelace.The book addresses issues central to modern discussions about the nature of knowledge and how it is produced and incorporates history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology.

Originally published in 1992, Medical Theory, Surgical Practice examines medical and surgical concepts of disease and their relation to the practice of surgery, in particular historical settings. It emphasises that understanding concepts of disease does not just include recounting explicit accounts of disease given by medical men. It needs an analysis of the social relations embedded in such concepts. In doing this, the contributors illustrate how surgery rose from a relatively humble place in seventeenth century life to being seen as one of the great achievements of late Victorian culture. They examine how medical theory and surgical practices relate to social contexts, how physical diagnosis entered medicine and whether anaesthesia and Lister’s antiseptic techniques really did cause a revolution in surgical practice.

Originally published in 1992, Medical Theory, Surgical Practice examines medical and surgical concepts of disease and their relation to the practice of surgery, in particular historical settings. It emphasises that understanding concepts of disease does not just include recounting explicit accounts of disease given by medical men. It needs an analysis of the social relations embedded in such concepts. In doing this, the contributors illustrate how surgery rose from a relatively humble place in seventeenth century life to being seen as one of the great achievements of late Victorian culture. They examine how medical theory and surgical practices relate to social contexts, how physical diagnosis entered medicine and whether anaesthesia and Lister’s antiseptic techniques really did cause a revolution in surgical practice.

Christopher Lawrence's critical overview of medicine's place in the development of modern Britain examines the significance of the clinical encounter in contemporary society.* first short synoptic study of its kind* breaks new ground by bringing together specialised scholarship into a broad argument* shows how the medical profession created a very specific role for itself* relates medicine to general social policy

This book, first published in 2006, is a detailed and authoritative account of the last two centuries of the development of 'Western' medicine, a tradition now important everywhere in the world. It is written by leading experts who not only describe the most important people, events, and transformations, but give explanations for why medicine developed as it did, becoming as important as it has in the modern world. It contains one of the first historical summaries of the development of medicine after the Second World War. It is an authoritative source of new information as well as a synthesis of the current state of knowledge on this fascinating subject. The Western Medical Tradition, 1800-2000 is a companion volume to The Western Medical Tradition, 800 BC to AD 1800.

This book, first published in 2006, is a detailed and authoritative account of the last two centuries of the development of 'Western' medicine, a tradition now important everywhere in the world. It is written by leading experts who not only describe the most important people, events, and transformations, but give explanations for why medicine developed as it did, becoming as important as it has in the modern world. It contains one of the first historical summaries of the development of medicine after the Second World War. It is an authoritative source of new information as well as a synthesis of the current state of knowledge on this fascinating subject. The Western Medical Tradition, 1800-2000 is a companion volume to The Western Medical Tradition, 800 BC to AD 1800.

A compelling account of the intersection of globalization and neo-racism in a rural Greek community, this book describes the contradictory political and economic development of the Greek countryside since its incorporation into the European Union, where increased prosperity and social liberalization have been accompanied by the creation of a vulnerable and marginalized class of immigrant laborers. The author analyzes the paradoxical resurgence of ethnic nationalism and neo-racism that has grown in the wake of European unification and addresses key issues of racism, neoliberalism and nationalism in contemporary anthropology.

Christopher Lawrence's critical overview of medicine's place in the development of modern Britain examines the significance of the clinical encounter in contemporary society.* first short synoptic study of its kind* breaks new ground by bringing together specialised scholarship into a broad argument* shows how the medical profession created a very specific role for itself* relates medicine to general social policy

This book examines the Rockefeller Foundation's attempts to introduce the laboratory sciences, particularly biochemistry, into the Edinburgh medical world of the 1920s.In the first half of the twentieth century, reformers attempted to use the knowledge and practices of the laboratory sciences to radically transform medicine. Change was to be effected through medicine's major institutions; hospitals were to be turned into businesses and united to university-based medical schools. American ideas and money were major movers of these reforms. The Rockefeller Foundation supported these changes worldwide. reform, however, wasnot always welcomed. In Britain many old hospitals and medical schools stood by their educational and healing traditions. Further, American ideals were often seen as part of a larger transatlantic threat to British ways of life. In Edinburgh, targeted by reformers as an important center for training doctors for the empire, reform was resisted on the grounds that the city had sound methods of education and patient care matured over time. This resistance waspart of an anxiety about a wholesale invasion by American culture that was seen to be destroying Edinburgh's cherished values and traditions. These latter in turn were seen to stem from a distinct Scottish way of life. This bookexamines this culture clash through attempts to introduce the laboratory sciences, particularly biochemistry, into the Edinburgh medical world of the 1920s.Christopher Lawrence is Professor of the History of Medicine at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

A compelling account of the intersection of globalization and neo-racism in a rural Greek community, this book describes the contradictory political and economic development of the Greek countryside since its incorporation into the European Union, where increased prosperity and social liberalization have been accompanied by the creation of a vulnerable and marginalized class of immigrant laborers. The author analyzes the paradoxical resurgence of ethnic nationalism and neo-racism that has grown in the wake of European unification and addresses key issues of racism, neoliberalism and nationalism in contemporary anthropology.