OSLER LECTURESHIP: Jacalyn Duffin - Stanley's Dream

McIntyre Medical Building, McGill University, 3655 Promenade Sir-William-Osler, Montreal, QC
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As the 42nd Annual Osler Lectureship, Jacalyn Duffin will speak on the subject of her new book, Stanley's Dream: The Medical Expedition to Easter Island. Jacalyn Duffin, physician and historian, is professor emerita at Queen's University, where she held the Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine from 1988 to 2017.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Based on archival papers, diaries, photographs, and interviews with nearly twenty members of the original team, Stanley's Dream sets the expedition in its global context within the early days of ecological research and the understudied International Biological Program. Jacalyn Duffin traces the origins, the voyage, the often-complicated life within the constructed camp, the scientific preoccupations, the role of women, the resultant reports, films, and publications, and the previously unrecognized accomplishments of the project, including a goodwill tour of South America, the delivery of vaccines, and the discovery of a wonder drug. For Rapa Nui, the expedition coincided with its rebellion against the colonizing Chilean military, resulting in its first democratic election. For Canada, it reflected national optimism as the country prepared for its centennial and adopted its own flag.