From a completely different vantage point of a book like Practising Colonial Medicine: The Colonial Medical Serice in British East Africa - not that of a student of history, but that of
a protagonist - Rickman's book gives us insights into this life. As the opening sentence -
'The leopard came just before midnight....' - makes clear, this book does not pretend to
be a scholarly work, but a collection of memories and stories of a long and fruitful
medical-scientific career (the author is not a doctor but a medical parasitologist and
public health expert). Nevertheless, the author provides us with deep insight into the
identity and ideology, character and lifestyle, of late colonial medical staff.
Rickman proceeds chronologically, from WW2 to his present days of retirement.
He covers thus one of the most exciting periods of colonial medical work: the emergence
of scientific public health, the foundation of new research institutes, as well as several
successful disease control campaigns. Rickman dedicates an early chapter to his own
'radical change of direction' - into colonial health - and to his choice as well as the
interview and selection process that allowed him, eventually, to pursue it. While some of
his recollections - notably about class and about the older generations of doctors - bear
out Crozier's observations, other important factors become visible here, such as his
personal quest for scientific knowledge and further education, and a (maybe typically
post-war) longing for adventure and professional fulfilment. These traits become much
more pertinent in later parts of the book, where field research, or 'bush work', and the
continuous trail of learning and discovery that is associated to it, move to the centre of
his attention.
The ethos of field-work - going out, exploring issues and trying to sort them out - and
of make-do - improvising with limited means, combining ideas and ingenuity with
whatever material at hand to create new technologies - such as the 'string powered
centrifuge' that gives the book its title - are of great interest. These traits of the Colonial
Service are more important to learn about for present generations than traditional class
values and imperial visions, because they can provide inspiration beyond the specifics of
the colonial historical context. While Rickman describes this ethos and the associated
practices from a personal viewpoint, these material aspects of scientific work will be of
great interest also to historians and anthropologists of science. Rickman's book thus
provides a fascinating read on how scientific innovations are produced, not merely in the
realm of ideas, but in that of concrete, often strenuous, work. As such, it is as much as
Crozier's about 'practising' colonial medicine.
By way of conclusion, this book when combined with Practising Colonial Medicine: The Colonial Medical Serice in British East Africa can be warmly recommended to readers interested
in the history of medicine and the Colonial Service, as well as in the colonial project as
such. Crozier in her book provides us with useful facts and figures on recruitment and the
background of pre-war medical staff, and triggers many questions that will inspire future
research. Rickman, on the other hand, provides for somewhat lighter reading, but the wealth of detail of his
account speaks very well to recent scholarly interests - in the social science and
humanities and in public health - and goes thus far beyond what one would expect from
a medical biography. It provides a good read to all of us, but it should not be overlooked
by the academic readership.
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