Canadian physician, writer, and lecturer William Osler was born at Tecumseh, Ontario, the son of a clergyman. After graduating from Trinity College in Toronto, he decided to become a doctor. When he completed his medical work at McGill University in 1872, Osler traveled to Europe and continued his studies there in London, Berlin, and Vienna. On his return to Canada, he was appointed chair in physiology and pathology at McGill. During the 1870s at McGill, he avidly pursued research in pathology on parasites and freshwater polyzoa. From 1884 to 1889, Osler served as head of clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He then was invited to Johns Hopkins University as professor of the principles and practices of medicine. After an outstanding tenure at Johns Hopkins, in 1905 he accepted the post of regius professor of medicine at Oxford University.
A popular lecturer and a clear and insightful writer, Osler gained distinction as an outstanding medical historian and scholar. His writings included Science and Immortality (1904) and A Way of Life (1914). His best-known work, however, was his popular textbook Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892), which achieved numerous editions and was translated into several languages. During his lifetime, Osler amassed a large and impressive medical history library of rare books. This library was eventually transported and restored at the McGill Medical School, preserving intact this valuable collection.
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