A pathology of progress? Locating the historiography of cancer. Issue 4 (9th December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Arnold-Forster, Agnes
• Editors: Stark, James F.
• Is Part Of: British journal for the history of science. Volume 49:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 627
• Page End: 634
• Publication Date: 2016-12-09
• Subjects: Science -- History -- Periodicals; 509
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007087416001175
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-0874

Abstract

Abstract : Despite its prominent position in today's medical research, popular culture and everyday life, cancer's history is relatively unwritten. Compared to the other great 'plagues' – cholera, tuberculosis or tropical fevers, to name but a scant handful – cancer has few dedicated pages in the general surveys, and its specialists have largely failed to convince the broader community of medical historians – or indeed historians of anything at all – that histories of the disease can tell us fundamental things about the science and practice of medicine, both past and present. Moreover, cancer has a remarkably stable profile over time, at least in terms of its definition, language and terminology – a detail that only makes the disease's absence from historical literature more surprising.