By Paul Theerman Originally published in Hidden Treasure: The National Library of Medicine, 2011. The photograph is dramatic, more dramatic in its own way than the famous one of James Watson and Francis Crick. Like that photograph, this one portrays two young scientists in the throes—the joys—of collaboration. The names are not as well known: […]
Author Archives: Circulating Now
January
05
The Road to Health and Happiness, 1937
posted by Circulating Now
By Sarah Eilers The road to abundant life is not hard to follow and it is not expensive. So we are told in the opening frames of the 1937 silent film The Road to Health and Happiness, produced by Salem, Oregon dentist and filmmaker David Bennett Hill. Mental as well as physical habits are key. […]
December
29
Sup on a Syllabub
posted by Circulating Now
By Anne Rothfeld Want an intriguing dessert from the past to satisfy your present day holiday palate? Serve the syllabub: a cream-based treat, mixed with sweet wine and lemon juice, then whipped with cream until frothy, and garnished with a seasonal herb. The acids, which rise from the lemons to firm the cream, then separate […]
December
23
Mr. Kris Kringle, 1893
posted by Circulating Now
By Margaret Kaiser It is Christmas eve, a Christmas with no presents and the loss of the family home, until a surprising visitor appears… Mr. Kris Kringle is the charming and sentimental story of a young family reunited at Christmas through the intercession of a mysterious visitor. It was written by Silas Weir Mitchell to […]
December
20
Don’t be SAD: A Very Brief History of Light Therapy
posted by Circulating Now
By Michael Sappol As December 21, the shortest day of the year approaches, when the gray and dark is at its height and golden sunshine is scarce, it’s easy to feel gloomy. Doctors have a diagnosis for that, Seasonal Affective Disorder (conveniently acronymed as “SAD”), a name coined in the 1980s by Norman E. Rosenthal, […]
December
14
The Cry for Help, 1962
posted by Circulating Now
By Sarah Eilers Fifty years ago, renowned American documentary filmmaker George C. Stoney made a series of short training films tackling a tough topic: how police respond to people who are mentally ill, suicidal, or alcoholic, how to do so more effectively, and why the officers should care. One film in that series, The Cry […]
December
06
A Nurse’s Scrapbook from The Great War
posted by Circulating Now
By Stephen J. Greenberg Anniversaries can be funny things. As we observe (“celebrate” somehow seems wrong in the context) the 100th anniversary of the First World War, it’s not always easy to pick a precise date to mark. What day, exactly, did the war begin? Was it June 28, 1914, the day the Archduke Franz […]
