Ahnert, Thomas

Henry, John

Wolf, Jeffrey Charles

other

2015-11-11T14:48:51Z

2015-11-11T14:48:51Z

2015-06-30

This is a study of Dr. William Cullen (1710-1790), the Scottish chemist, physician, and professor of medicine, who played a significant role in the Scottish Enlightenment. I argue that Cullen was both a more unorthodox figure in Scottish medicine than he is generally depicted, as well as a more ambitious one. Despite his controversial doctrines, he skillfully managed the hierarchy of his profession and reached the pinnacle of success as a learned physician in the Scottish Enlightenment. I explore Cullen’s life and thought from different angles. I explicate his pedagogical persona and philosophy of medicine, both of which shaped the experiences of his pupils. I show how his neurophysiology was rooted in his contentious interpretation of the nature of the nervous fluid. And I provide a detailed look at Cullen’s understanding of hygiene, or the art of health—a rarely-studied component of his practice of medicine.

http://hdl.handle.net/1842/11704

en

The University of Edinburgh

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Cullen, William

Scottish medicine

Scottish Enlightenment

Edinburgh Medical School

history of medicine

“Our master & father at the head of physick”: the learned medicine of William Cullen

Thesis or Dissertation

Doctoral

PhD Doctor of Philosophy