Medicine, Science, and Empire

Paper Summary:

This paper focuses on malaria, the plague, and tuberculosis in Great Britain, Africa, and India in the 19th century. The impact these diseases had on the imperial effort and the medical profession are also discussed. The paper uses the following main texts: "Colonizing the Body" by David Arnold; "Contagious Divides" by Nayah Shan; "Curing Their Ills: Colonial Power and African Illness" by Megan Vaughan; "Tools of Empire" by Daniel Hedrick; "Warm Climates and Western Medicine' by David Arnold; and "Machines as the Measure of Men" by Michael Adas.

From the Paper:

"In most reviews of the technologies of nineteenth century imperialism, three technologies are pinpointed as having given the imperialists their edge in the fight for dominance: the steamship, advanced military weaponry (such as rifles), and quinine. These technologies allowed the imperialists to gain ground over their new lands, to be able to conquer the people of these new lands, and to be able to conquer their new lands, through mapping projects, and the building of, for instance, hill stations (as in India) which helped the British keep an eye on their new territory, and to ensure the suppression of plots to overthrow them."

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