Raymond Adams: A Life of Mind and Muscle

by Robert Laureno, MD

Overview

Raymond Adams: A Life of Mind and Muscle is a contribution to the history of neurology and the history of American medicine. Adams, one of the greats of neurology, advanced the fields of neurology, neuropathology, internal medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, and psychology. Drawing on 50 interviews with Raymond D. Adams and on interviews with 50 other professionals and family members, this book documents his contributions to knowledge, his expansion of the realm of neurology, and his vast impact as an educator and author. Following an introductory chapter, "The Phenomenon of Raymond Adams," the book deals chronologically with the phases of his life, education, and professional work. Another section of the book is arranged by disease categories and related topics, explaining his investigative work and ideas. There is a chapter of summation, analyzing the accomplishment and legacy of Dr. Adams. Numerous appendices include letters of correspondence, a letter of nomination, and extracts of interviews with other neurologists. These documents provide further insight into Adam's personality and work patterns. This book convincingly demonstrates Dr. Adam's seminal role in the completion of the 19th century task of clinicopathologic analysis of neurological diseases, the opening of the study of muscle pathology, the systematic study of cerebrovascular diseases, and emergence of the modern field of pediatric neurology, along with demonstrating the extent to which he educated generations of leaders in neurology and to which he guided neurologists everywhere with his great synthesis, Principles of Neurology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199702459
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	4 MB

Table of Contents

1. Chronologic Highlights2. The Phenomenon of Raymond Adams3. Education and Professional EndeavorsA. A Boy in OregonB. The University of Oregon: Finding His GameC. In All the Splendor: The Study of Medicine at Duke UniversityD. Neurology Residency: Massachusetts General HospitalE. Psychiatry Fellowship with Stanley Cobb: Massachusetts General HospitalF. Psychiatry Fellowship: A Year with Eugen Kagn at YaleG. Boston City Hospital: 1941-1951H. Return to Massachusetts General Hospital: The Early Years, 1951-1954I. Sabbatical Year in Europe: 1954-1955J. The Bullard Professor: 1954-1977K. Building Pediatric Neurology4. Investigations and IdeasA. Metabolic DiseaseB. AlcoholismC. MemoryD. Cerebrovascular DiseasesE. Infectious DiseasesF. Demyelinative Diseases and NeuroimmunologyG. Peripheral Nerve DiseasesH. Muscle DiseasesI. HydrocephalusJ. Pathologic and Clinicopathologic ConceptsK. WritingL. Orienting Ideas in Neurology5. Family, Retirement, and Old AgeA. Family LifeB. Retirement and Old Age6. Major Original Contributions of Raymond AdamsA. Neoplastic DiseasesB. Cerebrovascular DiseasesC. Demyelinative Diseases and NeuroimmunologyD. Muscle DiseasesE. Nerve DiseasesF. Infectious DiseasesG. HydrocephalusH. Liver DiseasesI. Alcohol WithdrawalJ. Nutritional DiseasesK. Other Metabolic DiseasesL. Memory DisordersM. Movement DisordersN. Neuroophthalmic DisordersO. Miscellaneous Contributions7. Books of Raymond Adams8. The Accomplishment and Legacy of Raymond AdamsAppendices

Editorial Reviews

"...[a] gem of a book..."—E.F.M. Wijdicks, Mayo Clinic in Neurocritical Care

"In his new book, Raymond Adams, A Life of Mind and Muscle, author Robert Laureno covers the seminal contributions to medicine of Ray Adams, MD'37, HS'38, a School of Medicine Alumnus who went on to become one of the giants of neurology...Adams, who died in 2008, was one of the first recipients of a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Duke Medical Alumni Association in 1969."—As mentioned in the Duke University School of Medicine Alumni News

"In this thorough and comprehensive oral history, Robert Laureno reveals much about this important and complicated figure....Robert Laureno has done a great service to neurology and historians of the neurosciences by persevering through the work entailed in producing this volume....one of the most useful published sources on post-Second World War neurology."—The Neuro Times, a historical blog dedicated to neurology and neuroscience

"Robert Laureno, MD, a noted neurologist and neurological educator in his own right, has produced an excellent biography of Raymond D. Adams, MD, whom many regard as the father of modern neurology....Dr. Adams played a huge role in shaping the field of neurology as we know it now, and Dr. Laureno thoroughly documents each step of the way through eight chapters, 50 pages of appendices, and an index. We get to see a more personal side of the man through 66 photographs of every period of Dr. Adam's life, including a number of group photos from his professional years. Other photographs depict family members and home life, title pages of important papers and monographs, correspondence by and about Dr. Adams, clinical notes, gross pathological specimens, and photomicrographs of pathology slides...Dr. Laureno has done a masterful job of summarizing the life and times of Raymond D. Adams and the profound impact he had on the shape of modern neurology."—Neurology Today

"...we are treated to a full-scale biography, largely in the question-and-answer format of an oral history...I thank Laureno for a wonderful book about one of the true greats in the history of neurology."—As reviewed by Lewis P. Rowland, Columbia University Medical Center, in Archives of Neurology

"...exemplary...The well-written introductory essay gives an overview of his life and educational work. The subsequent sections of the book contain actual interviews with Dr. Adams, highlighting the accomplishments of each period. The appendices also provide instructive commentary on his struggles as an academic neurologist, many of which seem to be universal to academia...In addition, Laureno offers glimpses of Raymond Adams as a child, husband, and father."—Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology

"The publication of Robert Laureno's Raymond Adams: A Life of Mind and Muscle has surpassed Oxford University Press's objective of 'excellence in research, scholarship, and education...Adams seemed to know everything worth knowing about the human nervous system, while in this extraordinary and worthy opus, Laureno's scrupulous stewardship of a difficult task has provided an analytic, empathetic, and understandable account of a medical pioneer's acquisitive intelligence, enthusiasm, and complex, productive life, right to its end. Deserving to be read, savored, ruminated on, and reread, Raymond Adams: A Life of Mind and Muscle has earned its place in the libraries and on the nightstands of thoughtful scholars, physicians, and medical historians."—As reviewed by David A. Morowitz, MD, in JAMA

"...a rich historical source....an entertaining book that not only provides information on this influential neurologist, but also gives an impression of medicine and neurology during a large part of the 20th century."—As reviewed by Peter J. Koeler in Neurology

"...shed[s] an important and revisionist light on the period in which neurology underwent it's greatest social and scientific advancements...fascinating and enjoyable."—BRAIN

From the Publisher