A follow up to my post on Why life is 255 times better now than in 1800. Some warm-up indicators: By 1900 the U.S. had recently become the wealthiest economy in the world, slightly surpassing Australia and Great Britain, and it had become twice as wealthy as France and Germany and four times as wealthy […]
Why life in America is 40 times better than in 1900 Read More »
Prior to the discovery of germ theory and antiseptic, women frequently died of puerperal fever in the maternity ward at the University of Vienna Hospital. Enter Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian-born physician working at the Vienna hospital, one of the world’s leading medical establishments. Carl Hempel’s account of Semmelweis’s false starts, failed hypotheses, and eventual success
In class: Semmelweis as epistemological hero Read More »
I think we have to consider sacrificing Maryland. Some of my best friends are Marylanders. Nothing personal, guys, but this healthcare thing is important, and there’s only one way to break the impasse: hard scientific experimenting. Here is the plan. We isolate Maryland and turn it into a giant test case. We send in a
We have to consider sacrificing Maryland Read More »
Like many of you, I am engaged with thinking through the healthcare proposals and debates and am occasionally frustrated with the scattered focus and the talking past the other guy’s position. So, as a start, I propose a clarification of the questions involved. As I see it, the overall healthcare discussion is a four-dimensional debate:
The four healthcare debates Read More »
Cautionary Tale #1 The plague hit London again in the hot summer of 1665. Panic struck and rumors abounded about its cause. The Lord Mayor of London was convinced of one theory: the plague was spread by cats and dogs. So he ordered all the city’s cats and dogs killed, and an estimated 40,000 dogs
Two cautionary tales about cholera, the plague, and politics Read More »