Bamber Gascoigne presents universal challenge to swot-up on medical history online

Thursday 24 January

The most momentous events in medical history are recreated today (24 January) with the launch of a new online resource masterminded by the former presenter of University Challenge, Bamber Gascoigne. From shrines for the dead in Ancient Greece, through to legalising euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2000, HistoryWorld provides a unique look at the ups, downs and oddities of medicine through the ages ( www.historyworld.net).

With support from the research charity the Wellcome Trust, Bamber Gascoigne has teamed up with the Wellcome Centre for the History of Medicine and historian Dr Carole Reeves to provide a fascinating account of medical history. Comprising some 170,000 words and over 500 pictures, Dr Reeves' account of medicine covers seven significant themes - birth, death, drugs, hospitals, plagues, surgery, and technology - which together trace key developments from Ancient Greece through to contemporary times.

Commenting on the launch, Bamber Gascoigne, founder of HistoryWorld, said: "History helps make sense of where we are today and although my site aims to make sense of all branches of history, medicine is central to understanding ourselves. Carole Reeves has made an impressive contribution to HistoryWorld, and has made it easy for non-specialists to understand and enjoy the history of medicine. She has succeeded in compiling a comprehensive account which is both accessible and full of intriguing detail.

"For example, how many of us knew that the Romans offered their soldiers free burial as an incentive to join the army, or that Dr Joseph Ignace Guillotin was horrified to discover that his decapitation machine - originally devised by him as a 'humane' form of capital punishment - was not only named after him, but became the instrument of the Terror during the French Revolution. He is said to have provided suicide pills for many of his friends at risk of a close encounter with his machine."

Clare Matterson, Director of Medicine, Society and History at the Wellcome Trust, said: "This is an invaluable resource and includes a wealth of information from the Trust's treasure chest of medical history. HistoryWorld has captured so much detail in such an easy to use form and we are delighted that it has been illustrated by many previously unseen images from the Wellcome collection."

Since its launch in June 2001, HistoryWorld has gone from strength to strength. Users currently access about 100,000 pages on the site every month.

Media contact:
Noorece Ahmed
Media Officer, The Wellcome Trust
Tel: 020 7611 8540
Email: n.ahmed@wellcome.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

1. The Wellcome Trust supported Bamber Gascoigne's HistoryWorld project by recruiting a medical historian, Dr Carole Reeves, who spent a year researching and writing a comprehensive account of medical history in association with the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine.

The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine is delighted to have helped initiate the project as part of its aim to bring the history of medicine to a wider public. Based at UCL, this it the UK's leading Centre for research into the history of medicine. www.ucl.ac.uk/histmed/framegreen.htm

2. Each of the seven themes is represented by a detailed timeline, which open windows to historic accounts and photographs. You can access each theme directly from the HistoryWorld home page: www.historyworld.net

3. Formerly of the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, Dr Carole Reeves produces creative and educational media for biomedical communication at all levels.

4. Following 400 themes through history, Bamber Gascoigne has spent the past seven years developing HistoryWorld, a free resource which went online in June 2001. Since it launch, it has won a number of accolades, including runner-up for the best educational website in the New Statesman Media Awards.

5. The Wellcome Trust is an independent research-charity, established under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome in 1936. It is funded from a private endowment, which is managed with long-term stability and growth in mind. The Trust's mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health.

In the will of Sir Henry Wellcome, he specifically mentioned the study of the history of medicine as a topic to be fostered. The Wellcome Trust has since maintained this tradition through its support for research in the history of medicine.

The Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine, from whose collections many of the images are drawn, is open to the public six days a weeks.