author
Thomas Hawkes Tanner
A 19th-century English physician who turned practical medical knowledge into widely used books, he wrote clearly about everyday diagnosis, treatment, and the health of women and children.
1 Audiobook
Memoranda on Poisons
by Thomas Hawkes Tanner
About the author
Born in London on July 9, 1824, Thomas Hawkes Tanner studied medicine at King's College London and later graduated M.D. from the University of St Andrews. He built a busy medical career in London and became known not only as a physician, but as a writer who could explain medicine in a straightforward, usable way.
Tanner wrote a number of popular medical works, including A Manual of the Practice of Medicine, A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Infancy and Childhood, and The Signs and Diseases of Pregnancy. His books were aimed at working doctors and students, and they helped make current clinical knowledge more accessible in the mid-19th century.
He died in Brighton on July 7, 1871, just two days before his 47th birthday. Though not a household name now, his books had a strong reputation in his lifetime and show how important clear, practical medical writing was to Victorian medicine.