AIHP is pleased to announce the publication of Pharmacy in History volume 62, numbers 3 & 4 (2020)—the final issue to be self-published by AIHP under the title Pharmacy in History. Beginning in 2021, AIHP has partnered with the University of Wisconsin Press to publish its academic journal, which, going forward, has adopted the new title of History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals.
This issue’s lead article by Dr. Katherine Badertscher and Dr. Christoper J. Rutty, “Insulin at 100: Indianapolis, Toronto, Woods Hole, and the ‘Insulin Road’,” explores the timely subject of industrial-academic partnerships for the large-scale production of medicines and pharmaceuticals. Rachael Pymm’s article, “Transmitting Medical Exotica: Louis Philiberto Vernatti, the Snakestone, and the Royal Society,” investigates the circulation of medical and pharmaceutical knowledge in the early modern world.
In her article, “The Development of Museums of Pharmacy in Post-Soviet Countries,” Dr. Katarzyna Jarosz analyzes how museums of pharmacy in several former Soviet Republics document, exhibit, and explain the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals to researchers and visitors. Dr. Oliver Kahl’s research note, “‘From the Writings of an Indian Women’: Pharmaceutical Fragments of a Lost Ayurvedic Text on Gynecology, Preserved in a Ninth-Century Arabic Medical Compendium,” recounts a fascinating story about the inter-cultural exchange of ancient pharmaceutical knowledge.
The recurring “Conversations” Department features a wide-ranging and interesting interview of Dr. David Herzberg by Dr. Rafaela Zorzanelli. Dr. Sarah Schneewind’s review essay, “The Work of the Chinese Physician-Pharmacist in He Bian’s Know your Remedies,” provides a detailed sociological analysis of the development of the occupation of the “traditional Chinese pharmacist.” The reviews section also features reviews of six books whose topics span the early modern era to the twenty-first century and whose subjects range from Russia to the Caribbean.
Former AIHP Executive Director Dr. John Parascandola discusses some of the venerable history of AIHP’s journal in his “Personal Reflection on Pharmacy in History.” For the Visual Pharmacy section, Enrico Cevolani explores the history of pharmacist “Umberto Dotta and Plastod Dressing and Bandages.”
The issue closes with a special section remembering the life of Dr. Glenn Sonnedecker, who recently died at the age of 103. Prof. Sonnedecker was the founding editor of Pharmacy in History (in 1959), the former long-time Executive Director of AIHP (1957–73 and 1981–85), and an influential scholar in the field of the history of pharmacy. AIHP Historical Director Dr. Lucas Richert and AIHP Fischelis Scholar Dr. Greg Higby introduce the section with their article, “Remembering Glenn,” which is followed by reprints of classic Pharmacy in History articles about Dr. Sonnedecker by his colleagues David L. Cowen, Ernst W. Stieb, and Holger Goetzendorff.
The issue is in the mail to members and subscribers, but AIHP members with access to the Pharmacy in History JSTOR archive can read the contents immediately.
Publication of this issue was regrettably delayed by the pandemic and the transition to UW Press. The first issue of AIHP’s journal under the name History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals, however, is currently in production and should be mailed to members and subscribers next month.
The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is documenting and preserving pharmacy stories and experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic for the benefit of future historians and scholars. We seek to record the effects of this public health emergency on all types of pharmacy experiences. We invite you to share your pharmacy stories, photos, videos, artifacts, and other documentation of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.