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Lydia Syson, Doctor of love: James Graham and his celestial bed, Richmond, Surrey, Alma Books, 2008, pp. 331, illus., £20.00 (hardback 978-1-84688-054-4).
It is no easy matter to situate a man who cared more for celebrity and marketing than science or medicine within the history of medicine. Yes, James Graham (1745-94) was a quack, but this epithet hardly captures his ability to exploit scientific ideas for commercial gain. And how does one take seriously his use of medical ideas? More critically, how does one recognize how Graham was shaped by and shaped the science of his time? In her canny and erudite new book, Lydia Syson presents Graham as the first sex therapist, showman, and entrepreneur. She navigates a tightrope between Graham as huckster and Graham as physician, and in the process, raises important questions for the history of medicine. At a time when the grand narratives of science are being replaced by more contingent and localized public cultures of science, the career of James Graham...