Edwin Clarke
Edwin Clarke FRCP | |
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Medical historian | |
Medical career | |
Institutions | Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine |
Edwin Sisterton Clarke
In 1958, Clarke left a career in neurology to pursue one in history of medicine. In 1965, he was a member of the founding committee that established the British Society for the History of Medicine.
His publications included a series of monographs on the history of the neurosciences.
Early life and education
Edwin Clarke was born in
Early medical training and career
During the
Clarke completed his postgraduate posts at Oxford with
History of medicine
In 1958, Clarke switched career, left clinical work and became assistant scientific secretary to the Wellcome Trust.[1][4]
Between 1960 and 1962, he spent time at the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, followed by some time at the University of California at Los Angeles, and then a year as visiting associate professor at Yale University.[1]
In 1963, Clarke returned to England from the United States and joined the staff of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and Library before it became the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.[1]
In 1965, he represented the
Clarke researched the structure, functions and diseases of the nervous system[1] and with various co-authors, he created a series of monographs on the history of the neurosciences. In 1971, he edited Modern Methods in the History of Medicine, a collection of essays.[4]
He was not completely at ease with the growing trend to apply a social context to medical history but his work in the history of medicine was still described as "seminal" and his scholarship as exhibiting "timeless qualities of accuracy and care".[1]
In 1973, he succeeded Poynter[2] to become Director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, when he oversaw the reorganisation of the Wellcome building at Euston Road, particularly the transfer of the Wellcome museum to the Science museum. At the same time, he also became editor of the journal Medical History and contributed to the establishment of an Intercalated BsC Degree in History of Medicine at University College, providing medical students the chance to study history of medicine in depth, for one year. His desire was to establish history of medicine as an academic discipline and not just interested amateurs. He retired as director in 1979.[4]
Personal life
Clarke was described as "a difficult man to get close to" but as having "impressive rhythm on the dance floor at Institute parties".[1]
He married three times and had two sons and a daughter.[4]
Clarke died on 11 April 1996 from
Selected publications
Clarke's books included:[1]
- The Human Brain and Spinal Cord. A historical study illustrated by writings from antiquity to the twentieth century. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1968. (With C. D. O'Malley)
- Modern Methods in the History of Medicine. Athlone Press, London, 1971.
- Illustrated History of Brain Function. Sandford Publications, Oxford, 1972. (With Kenneth Dewhurst)
- Neuburger, Max. The Historical Development of Experimental Brain and Spinal Cord Physiology before Flourens. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1981. (translator and reviser)
- Nineteenth-century Origins of Neuroscientific Concepts. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1987. (With L. S. Jacyna)
References
External links
- Media related to Edwin Sisterson Clarke at Wikimedia Commons