Abstract

Henry E. Sigerist (1891-1957), a French philologist and historian of medicine, was the first to show the relationship between medical practice and social conditions and to approach it as an aspect of the history of civilization. The following is one of the lectures he gave at the University of London which presents an excellent background of the history of Western public health: J. P. Frank's pioneering work in the field of social medicine, almost two centuries ago, a contribution that remained virtually unnoticed until Sigerist reappraised it.