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Roger Kenneth French

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Roger Kenneth French (12 April 1938 – 14 May 2002) was an English medical historian, specializing in medieval and Renaissance medical history. He was one of the world's leading experts on the anatomical work of William Harvey.[1]

Biography

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Roger French was born in Coventry,[2] where his parents ran a butchering and cold-storage business. After attending the King Henry VIII School, Coventry, he matriculated at St Catherine's College, Oxford. There he graduated with a bachelor's degree in zoology,[1] an M.A. in 1961 in medical history, and a Ph.D. in 1965 in medical history.[2] His Ph.D. thesis on the career of the Scottish physician Robert Whytt was supervised by Alistair Cameron Crombie.[1] As a postdoc, French was a research fellow from 1965 to 1966 at the University of Leicester.[2] He held appointments as a lecturer from 1965 to 1968 at the University of Leicester and a lecturer from 1968 to 1975 at the University of Aberdeen. At Aberdeen, his colleagues included George Molland (1941–2002) and Andrew William Wear (b. 1946),[1] who later moved to the University of Cambridge.[3]

In 1975 French became the director of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Science, University of Cambridge,[4][2] and continued as director until 1995. At the University of Cambridge, he was also from 1975 to 1991 a lecturer in the history of medicine.[1] He was a fellow of Clare College, Cambridge.[5]

As director of the Wellcome Unit of Cambridge University, French worked with several colleagues, including Andrew Cunningham, Andrew William Wear, Luis García Ballester [es] (1936–2000), Iain M. Lonie, Johanna Geyer-Kordesch,[5][3][6] and Frank Greenaway, to organize a number of symposia and conferences on various topics in the history of medicine. The results were published in many volumes, including The medical renaissance of the sixteenth century (Cambridge University Press, 1985), Science in the early Roman Empire: Pliny the Elder, his sources and his influence (London, Croom Helm, 1986), The medical revolution of the seventeenth century (Cambridge University Press, 1989), The medical enlightenment of the eighteenth century (Cambridge University Press, 1990), Practical Medicine from Salerno to the Black Death (Cambridge University Press, 1993), and Medicine from the Black Death to the French Disease (Ashgate Publishing, 1998). During French's directorship, the Wellocme Unit flourished in productivity.[5]

Although he specialized in medieval and Renaissance medical history, French's publications covered a wide range from ancient Greek medical texts to 19th century medical reform.[3] He served as a general editor for Routledge's book series Sciences of Antiquity.[3][7] French was a member of the editorial board of the journal Medical History.[8]

Roger and Patricia Anne French married on August 13, 1966. From their 35-year marriage, there were two daughters and a son.[2]

Selected publications

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Articles

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  • French, R.K. (1972). "Sauvages, Whytt and the Motion of the Heart: Aspects of Eighteenth Century Animism". Clio Medica. Acta Academiae Internationalis Historiae Medicinae. Vol. 7. pp. 35–54. doi:10.1163/9789004418196_003. ISBN 978-90-04-41819-6.
  • French, R. K. (1976). "Alexander Read and the Circulation of the Blood". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 50 (4): 478–500. JSTOR 44450371. PMID 797415.
  • French, R. K. (1978). "The thorax in history 1. From ancient times to Aristotle". Thorax. 33 (1): 10–18. doi:10.1136/thx.33.1.10. PMC 470840. PMID 347628.
  • French, R. K. (1978). "The thorax in history. 2. Hellenistic experiment and human dissection". Thorax. 33 (2): 153–166. doi:10.1136/thx.33.2.153. PMC 470865. PMID 351847.
  • French, R. K. (1978). "The thorax in history. 3. Beginning of the Middle Ages". Thorax. 33 (3): 295–306. doi:10.1136/thx.33.3.295. PMC 470888. PMID 356335.
  • French, R. K. (1978). "The thorax in history. 4. Human dissection and anatomical progress". Thorax. 33 (4): 439–456. doi:10.1136/thx.33.4.439. PMC 470910. PMID 358480.
  • French, R. K. (1978). "The thorax in history. 5. Discovery of the pulmonary transit". Thorax. 33 (5): 555–564. doi:10.1136/thx.33.5.555. PMC 470936. PMID 364760.
  • French, R. K. (1978). "The thorax in history. 6. Circulation of the blood". Thorax. 33 (6): 714–727. doi:10.1136/thx.33.6.714. PMC 470969. PMID 371058.
  • French, R. K. (1979). "De Juvamentis Membrorum and the Reception of Galenic Physiological Anatomy". Isis. 70 (251): 96–109. doi:10.1086/352157. PMID 396271.
  • French, Roger K. (1984). "An Origin for the Bone Text of the 'Five-Figure Series'". Sudhoffs Archiv. 68 (2): 143–156. JSTOR 20776928. PMID 6241360.
  • French, Roger K. (1994). "The Languages of William Harvey's Natural Philosophy". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. 49 (1): 24–51. doi:10.1093/jhmas/49.1.24. PMID 8151114.
  • French, R. K. (1994). "Putting animals on the map: The natural history of the Hereford Mappa Mundi". Archives of Natural History. 21 (3): 289–308. doi:10.3366/anh.1994.21.3.289.

Books

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Cunningham, Andrew (2002). "Roger French (12 April 1938–14 May 2002)" (PDF). Medical History. 46 (4): 580–582. doi:10.1017/S0025727300069751.
  2. ^ a b c d e "French, Roger Kenneth". Who's Who in the World, 1978-1979. Marquis Who's Who, LLC. 1978. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-8379-1104-5.
  3. ^ a b c d "Doctors and Ethics: The Historical Setting of Professional Ethics". information about the 1993 book Doctors and Ethics. Brill. 29 January 2020. ISBN 978-90-04-41834-9; biographical note on Andrew Wear, Johanna Geyer-Kordesch, and Roger French{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  4. ^ "Roger French (1938–2002)". Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge. 31 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b c Arrizabalaga, Jon (January 2003). "Roger French (1938-2002), in memoriam". Dynamis: Acta Hispanica Ad Medicinae Scientiarumque Historiam Illustrandam. 23.
  6. ^ Maehle, Andreas-Holger; Geyer-Kordesch, Johanna, eds. (November 2017). Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Biomedical Ethics: From Paternalism to Autonomy?: From Paternalism to Autonomy?. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-73810-1.
  7. ^ "Book Series: Sciences of Antiquity". Routledge.
  8. ^ "Editorial Board" (PDF). Medical History. 1988. PMC 1139852.
  9. ^ James, Kathryn (March 2004). "review of Medicine before Science by Roger French". Isis. 95 (1): 107–109. doi:10.1086/423526.