So you've heard of the Gaskell medal: but who was Gaskell?

Eric Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell and mesmerism: an unpublished letter.

The work of Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) is not often seen as a source for the student of medical history. However, the picture of her as a undemanding writer dealing primarily with domestic life found in Lord David Cecil's Early Victorian novelists' has now largely been replaced by an approach that recognizes her engagement with the wider social issues of mid-nineteenth century England. Criti...

Walter Gaskell and the understanding of atrioventricular conduction and block.

Walter Holbrook Gaskell was a nineteenth-century British physiologist whose investigations from 1874 until 1889 became central to our current understanding of cardiac physiology. His many cardiac contributions include the following: 1) the recognition of certain inherent properties of cardiac muscle; 2) the experimental proof that led to the acceptance of the myogenic theory of the origin of th...

Key–Gaskell syndrome in Brazil: first case report

Feline dysautonomia is a devastating disease characterized by neuronal degeneration in autonomic ganglia that results in clinical signs related to dysfunction of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The cause is unknown and this disease has a poor prognosis and no definitive treatment. Most reports have been described in few countries around the world, but the prevalence may be ...

John Tyndall and the Royal Medal that was never struck.

Just once in its long history has a Royal Medal been awarded but not presented. John Tyndall FRS (1820-93) was the chosen recipient in 1853 for his early work on diamagnetism but declined to accept it. The story of why Tyndall felt compelled to turn down this considerable honour sheds light on the scientific politics and personal relationships of the time, on the importance given to the study o...