Figures of Medicine—Blood, Face Transplants, Parasites

What does the infamous face transplant in France in 2005 share with the examination of "swollen faces" in Latin America in the 1930s? What does blood transfusion in Europe during the 17th century have in common with the discovery of mosquitoes as parasitic vectors in China at the close of the 19th century? And, last, how does the reconstruction of noses using skin flaps in Bologna in the 16th century relate to the opening of a forehead cyst in Guatemala in 1916? The six essays that form Figures of Medicine present a wealth of symmetries. Francois Delaporte shows that each epistemological concern demands its own mode of engagement; problems reside not only in their objects but also in the historical situations in which they emerge. Focusing on efforts to resolve medical problems that are particular and nonetheless exemplary, Delaporte unpacks these separate cases to show how
multiple actors--over long periods of time and across different geographies--must be taken into account to remove epistemological blockages that stand in the way of understanding. A remarkable contribution to the history of science and medicine, this book shows the value of historical epistemology from philosophical, historical, and anthropological perspectives.

Francois Delaporte is Professor Emeritus of the University of Picardia Jules Verne. Several of his books have been translated into English, including Disease and Civilization: The Cholera in Paris, 1832; The History of Yellow Fever; Anatomy of the Passions; and Nature's Second Kingdom. He also edited A Vital Rationalist: Selected Writings of Georges Canguilhem.

Nils F. Schott, most recently James M. Motley Fellow in the Humanities at The Johns Hopkins University, is the author of The Conversion of Knowledge and the translator of numerous books and articles, including Lambert Wiesing's Artificial Presence and Henri Atlan's Fraud.