'Identities Ascertained': British ophthalmology in the first half of the Nineteenth Century

Historical Significance: This paper takes its cue from the work on medical specialzation and ophthalmology by Geoge Rosen (see cat No 1791). Rosen's work was inspired by sociology: this work gives and account of medical specialisation through a cultural history of ophthalmology. The article won the SSHM Prize. The paper is about about the emergence of the specialisation of ophthalmology midst the obstaces of the division between surgeons and physicians, hostility to specialisms in medicine and ophthalmology's assocation with quackery. It starts with the sentence 'In late 18th C Britain, ophthalmology had one of the worst repuitations for quackery in the medical profession, yet became one of the first and most successful specialities.'