“He never entered into relation with the picture as a whole—never faced, so to speak, its physiognomy. He had no sense whatever of a landscape or scene.”¹

Medical humanities provides one way to get a sense of the landscape in which individuals and societies experience sickness and health. In this issue's Education and debate section Ruth Richardson, an interdisciplinary historian, uses a highly topical subject to show that an appreciation of medical history can illuminate current thinking in medicine. Her paper is offered, therefore, not simply or even primarily as an historical account but rather as a complementary perspective within the multifaceted approach offered by medical humanities. An education broadened by the humanities is, of course, no guarantee that a better …