exhibition on medical inventions
A ribbon-cutting ceremony and lecture will mark the opening of the interactive “Medical Inventions and Innovations” exhibition
on Wednesday, April 16,
at the Yale School of Medicine’s Cushing/Whitney Medical Library.
T H I S
James H. Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress, will formally open the
new exhibition at 3 p.m. He will then present the 60th annual keynote lecture
of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Associates at 4 p.m. in Harkness Auditorium,
Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St. His lecture, “Freedom as Strategy: the Importance of an
Ideal,” will be followed by a reception in the Medical Historical Library.
The lecture, which honors the late Evelyn E. Gordon, is free and open to the
public.
An author and historian, as well as an educator, Billington began his career
as a history instructor at Harvard University and subsequently at Princeton
University. He served as the director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center
for Scholars in Washington, D.C., from 1973 to 1987. He was sworn in as Librarian
of Congress on Sept.14, 1987.
Billington is the author of the “Icon and the Axe,” “Fire
in the Minds of Men” and, most recently, “Russia Transformed: Breakthrough
to Hope.” He has received numerous honorary degrees, is a foreign member
of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a member of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, a Commander of the Order
of Arts and Letters of France and a recipient of the Gwanghwa Medal of the
Republic of Korea. In 1992, he received Princeton University’s Woodrow
Wilson Award.
Medical innovations exhibit
Martin E. Gordon, chair of the board of trustees of the Cushing/Whitney Medical
Library Associates, is curator of the “Medical Inventions and Innovations” exhibit,
which will be on view through June 15.
A highlight of the display is a film produced by Gordon that examines innovations
in medical care throughout the ages. These range from the prehistoric use of
sharp-edged volvanic-derived obsidian glass to make surgery less painful to
the ancient Chinese therapies of acupuncture and moxibustion; the practice
of employing red ants to create wound sutures; blood letting with leeches;
the creation of the stethoscope and other little-known contributions by French
physician René Laennec; a “flying ambulance” used in the
Napoleonic wars; the development of medications such as Pepto-Bismol, which
was created in a basement to treat a diarrhea infantum outbreak; and inventions,
including a patented “tape worm trap,” wireless capsules, which
can capture 60 images per second as they journey through the gastrointestinal
tract, and the da Vinci robotic surgical instrument — similar to one
used at Yale-New Haven Hospital — which allows surgeons to manipulate
robotic instruments at a distance from the patient.
In addition, the exhibit will feature interactive stations displaying Billington’s
personal tour of the nation’s Library of Congress and a special 3D video
compilation of animations depicting groundbreaking medical teaching aids.
A concurrent exhibit “Preservation in the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library” will be on display in the rotunda of the library.
Established in 1948, the Medical Library Associates assist the Yale Medical
Library in its mission of serving the information needs of Yale faculty, students
and staff. The Associates have funded many projects including the digitization
of the entire Fry Print Collection and the creation of a digital imaging center.
For more information on the lecture and the exhibits, contact Geoffrey Little
at (203) 432-8061 or visit www.library.yale.edu.
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