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First of all, both books are not new releases; they have been on the market for more than ten years. Thanks to the Böhlau publishing house, which doesn't focus on quick sales but also long availability, they are still available. That's a good thing. Both have topics related to the history of science and therefore have no expiry date.
As far as the Viennese medical profession is concerned, the internist Karl Heinz Tragl (1936 to 2023), who had already written a standard work on the history of medicine in 2007 with the "Chronicle of the Vienna Hospitals", presented a work in 2011 that rightly ranks as a milestone in the history of medicine in Vienna. His 435-page book about the Society of Physicians in Vienna is based not least on his long-standing membership and ultimately his presidency (from 2011) in the said society.
Without an introduction or foreword, Tragl gets straight to the topic with the chapter “Prehistory and early period of the medical society”. No fewer than 49 further chapters follow in chronological order. Franz Wirer and Ludwig Türkheim were the founding fathers of the association, which held its constituent meeting on December 22, 1837. Initially, the Medical Association had 40 full members, as well as 51 extraordinary and 221 doctors as corresponding members.
The book, like the long title, is also a "history of medicine in Vienna" from the 19th to the 21st century. This can also be seen in individual chapters such as “Introduction of X-rays in Vienna” or “First trans- and implantations in Austria”.
What distinguishes the society then and now is the association's purpose, which in the 21st century reads as follows: "The main task of the society is to promote scientific research and scientific progress as well as to impart and expand medical expertise in all areas of medicine." Events are the heart of the activities. But that’s not all. When it came to securing Vienna's water supply in the long term, the company presented the Vienna City Council with a memorandum on July 25, 1864, "Vienna's water supply appreciated from a medical point of view". The declared goal was to obtain Vienna's water from the Rax-Schneeberg area, which was ultimately implemented (page 101).
Since its founding, an essential aspect of the society has been the publication of its own specialist journals and the management of an extensive library (pages 249 ff. and 294 to 298). No fewer than 3,000 scientific journals are available to members here. A comprehensive list of names (pp. 329 to 435), which corresponds to a register of people with short biographies, proves to be very helpful.
While the Society of Physicians is intended exclusively for doctors, the Anthropological Society has had a broader professional and thematic focus since its founding. The book's blurb says: "Based on a wide range of archive materials, this volume traces how geologists, doctors and philologists established human natural history as a new science in a multi-ethnic state without colonies."
Irene Ranzmaier, historian and German scholar, states in the introduction with research questions and problems that there is no generally accepted definition for the term “anthropology”. Depending on the time and language area, various subjects from the natural sciences, humanities and cultural sciences can be found here. Examples include physical anthropology, ethnology and prehistory.
The constituent meeting of the anthropological society in Vienna took place on February 13, 1870 at the University of Vienna. The opening speech was given by the physician (pathologist) Carl von Rokitansky (1804 to 1878), who was already a member of the "Society of Doctors in Vienna" in 1838 and became the first president of the anthropologists' association. Rokitansky in the original tone: "The task of anthropology is the natural history of humans." He saw the basis for this - who is surprised? – in “Anatomy and Physiology”. Ranzmaier says: "With the establishment of anthropological research on anatomy and physiology, which is intended to offer access to all material and spiritual evidence, there is a further reference to the theory of evolution [...]" (page 26). The majority of club officials were positive about Darwin's theses.
Of the 170 members from the very beginning, 13 geoscientists stand out alongside 37 doctors and 21 natural scientists. Including the geologist Ferdinand v. Hochstetter (director of the Natural History Museum), the paleontologist Franz von Hauer (director of the Reich Geological Institute) and Professor Eduard Suess from the University of Vienna. The vice president of the society, Ferdinand Andrian-Werburg, was also a geologist. He was one of the driving forces behind the founding of the club (page 41).
Further sections deal with the predominance of prehistory in the first decade (pages 51 to 66), the multi-ethnic state as an unfulfilled program (pages 66 to 96) and the developments of anthropological society after 1900. A lot of space is also devoted to the academic establishment of anthropological disciplines at the University of Vienna between 1882 and 1930.
Conclusion: Tragl describes in a structured manner the history of the renowned scientific medical association, which has had its headquarters in the Billrothhaus (Frankgasse 8, Vienna Alsergrund) since 1893. Tables about membership status, honorary members, award winners and so on make the book a valuable reference work. Ranzmaier understands how to present the connections and backgrounds surrounding anthropology in all its complexity against the background of the respective times; At the end of the book there is a register of people, but a tabular part is missing. (Thomas. Hofmann, November 19, 20124)