Book Notes

A. Thiede, Y. Hiki, and G. Keil, eds. Philipp Franz von Siebold and His Era: Prerequisites, Developments, Consequences and Perspectives. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2000. xi + 197 pp. Ill. $58.00 (3-540-64185-8).

The Seventy-Third Bavarian Surgical Congress, which took place in Würzburg, Germany in 1996, commemorated the 200th birthday of Philipp Franz von Siebold--physician, explorer, and important promoter of connections between Germany and Japan. This book is the result of a collaboration between the medical faculties of Nagasaki and Würzburg, containing eighteen presentations delivered at the congress: "Introduction," by Th. Berchem; "Prerequisites for the Reintegration of Surgery into Academic Medicine before 1850," by A. Thiede, A. Berglehner, and G. Keil; "Karl Kaspar von Siebold," by G. Keil; "Karl Kaspar von Siebold and Anatomy in Würzburg," by G. Keil; "Philipp Franz von Siebold's Youth in Würzburg (1796-1820)," by W. Dettelbacher; "Siebold as a Surgeon, Physician, and Medical Teacher in Japan," by S. Hiki and Y. Hiki; "On the Trail of the Siebold Family in Würzburg," by U. Beireis and W. Klein-Langner; "Philipp Franz von Siebold and His Influence on the Cultural Development of Japan," by M. Miyasaka; "The Activities of Philipp Franz von Siebold, during His Second Stay in Japan, Particularly His Diplomatic Activities in Nagasaki, Yokohama, and Edo," by N. Kutsuzawa; "Siebold the Research Manager," by H. Beukers; "German Medicine in Japan," by G. Keil; "German Physicians in Japan: Personal, Medical, and Cultural Characteristics," by E. Kraas; "The Relationship between Japan and Germany in Medicine: Mutual Stimulation," by E. Deltz; "History, Present State, and Future Perspectives of European-Japanese Cooperation in Culture, Economy and Science," by J. Kreiner; "The Siebold Palais in Würzburg, a Memorial and Visionary Place," by A. Berglehner, W. Klein-Langner, and A. Thiede; "Philipp Franz von Siebold and His Era--Future Perspective: Academic Cooperation and Exchange between the Medical Faculties of the Universities of Würzburg and Leiden and Nagasaki University Medical School," by K. Wilms; "Closing Remarks," by T. Ikeda; and "Remarks on the Future," by S. Nagataki.

Jeremy Taylor. The Rebirth of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, 1874-1883: An Architectural Exploration. Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, East Anglia, Research Publications No. 1. Norwich: Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of East Anglia, 2000. v + 70 pp. Ill. £5.49 (paperbound, 0-9538349-0-5).

This slim but amply illustrated book discusses the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in its original (1771) and "new" (1883) forms. The author asks:

How did this crucial redevelopment of the 1880s, funded by popular support from the community and some massive individual donations, come to look the way it did? What ideas does the building's form represent (still discernible despite recent alterations) and what drove its aesthetic development? How, for instance, did personalities, committees and specialist advisers influence design proposals? And what balance (or compromises) followed on from the dialogue between two key sets of players: the hospital's architects and the client grouping--representing medical and other informed opinion of the day? (p. 2)

He deals with these questions in the book's main section, "The Design Sequence," whose chapters are entitled "Problems of Overcrowding in the 1870s," "Initial Design Proposals," "Fund Raising," "Adaptation or New Build?" "Construction and Completion," and "The Pavilion Plan Achieved." An appendix provides detailed information about the contract and about the working drawings that culminated in the hospital's redesign.

 

Michael F. Marmor and James G. Ravin. The Eye of the Artist. St. Louis: Mosby, 1997. xvii + 229 pp. Ill. $110.00 (0-8151-7244-3).

Semir Zeki. Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. x + 224 pp. Ill. $35.00 (0-19-850519-1).

These two books explore the relation between principles of vision and artistic work from the conflicting perspectives of the ophthalmologist and the neurobiologist.

Through a series of case studies, Marmor and Ravin's beautifully produced book establishes correlations between artists...