A physician and medical reformer enthused by the scientific and cultural progress of the Enlightenment as it took hold in Britain, Thomas Percival (1740 1804) wrote on many topics, but he was particularly concerned about public health issues arising from the factory conditions of the Industrial Revolution. Calling for improved standards of care, he believed that the working poor should be treated the same as wealthy private clients. Following a disastrous dispute in 1792 which closed the Manchester Infirmary's Fever Hospital during an epidemic, Percival was asked to draft regulations on...

A physician and medical reformer enthused by the scientific and cultural progress of the Enlightenment as it took hold in Britain, Thomas Percival (1740 1804) wrote on many topics, including public health and demography. His influential Medical Ethics (also reissued in this series) is considered the first modern formulation. This one-volume reissue brings together two volumes of his essays on a variety of medical subjects, published in a revised second edition of 1772 and a follow-up collection of 1773. Many of the essays reflect his concern for public health, particularly for the citizens of...