Hildegard von Bingen wrote medical texts describing how to prepare abortifacients.

Angélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray revolutionized childbirth in France through education, building a detailed birthing mannequin.

Intended to protect consumers from unscrupulous quackery, a nineteenth-century ban on medical advertising proved to be a double-edged sword.

The history of obstetric forceps shows the dangers of privatizing important medical know-how.

When it came time to describe what they saw under microscopes, Victorians couldn’t help but perceive a real-life fairyland.