Sumario: | "Despite his importance to understanding the history of early 19th century medicine, science and Protestant identity, Andrew Fernando Holmes has never been the subject of a comprehensive study. This study is based on a wide-ranging examination of primary sources, both manuscript and printed, (some of which were unknown to previous historians) that illuminate key aspects of Holmes' public life: as a student at Edinburgh in the late 1810s, as a young physician and surgeon in private and hospital practice, as a assiduous collector of botanical and mineralogical specimens and mainstay of the Natural History Society of Montreal, as one of the founding members and first Dean of the McGill medical faculty; and as a leader in the Montreal Protestant community. This study is situated at the intersection of religious, scientific and medical history. While providing an analysis of his role in the early formation of McGill's medical faculty, it seeks to move beyond a narrow institutional focus to address questions about how Holmes thought about and actually practiced medicine and surgery; how he engaged in public medical controversies, and how his religious beliefs intersected with his scientific and medical work."--
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