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The book has lovely thick pages and the simple layout and authentic looking photos just make the book seem so much more worth it. Even though I had to wait weeks for it, the book is absolutely breath-taking. The photos are amazing and I've always been interested in such oddities and this definitely was satisfying.
Obviously, the photos taken at the time and their captions don't depict current scientific knowledge. But when it says she was "discharged five days later" she recovered, at least enough to be released. But the Mutter Museum although a sort of "odditorium" is also a scientific museum to inform people so I want facts. One photo particulary striking (among many though I'll choose one) says "meningitis, injected with serum, discharged 5 days later". The truth is this books is in between two worlds, that of the scientific and that of the freakshow.
Good enough. The museum promises to be "shockingly informative". The photo (striking to me because I have a neurological disability as well and after recovery from this disease people have long term after effects and disabilities that are neurological) unconsciously reminisant of the famous Victorian era photo "Fading Away" shows a girl in what appears to be a coma from that disease and one would assume she died after. But that infomation (scientifically correct) is missing. What would the people have gone through. But with the long term after effects of the disease people would often develop mental retardation or mental illness and in those times eventually end up in institutions which would not occur today". What was the treatment at the time. A good "update" might read "the antitoxin available at the time would stop the progress of the disease and enable people to live though not nearly as effective as antibiotics did save some lives.
I could say I'd prefer the former being a person with a disability myself (some of the photos here of people with "afflictions" like cerebral palsy would today lead normal lives) but also like any human being can understand your Malady of the Month curiousity about the whole thing and for that I'd reccomend the book "Death Scenes" (if you can stomach it and frankly the intro to that book has far more informative analysis of the photos than anything in this book). What happenend. Shock value I'll grant you but its a little lacking in the "informative" department. Many say "unknown disease" although a current scientist or medical provider could make a good guesstimate from the photo alone. What would happen now.
This is a good source of interest for human oddities, and of history for conditions that are routinely corrected now.
i was smitten by the pictures, and it makes me want to visit the museum even more. i poured over each one intently before turning the pages. oh my my my. beautiful photographs. i would have liked just a little bit more information about the subjects, otherwise it is a beautifully edited book. i've seen a few programs on television that spotlighted the mutter museum, and one day i should so love to visit. but this book has given me more insight into the history of medicine and such.
pioneering lifesaving medical techniques and even astoundingly advanced corrective procedures that I had no idea were even possible during this period are shown. it does, however, provide an insight to 19th century medicine that I had no idea existed. This book is very interesting if you are intrigued by medical history. but I wouldn't necessarily call it fascinating, like I was thinking it might be.
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