Chatroom #11: When Technology Meets Ayurveda (bonus ep)

The "epic clash" of traditional medicine vs. Western medicine is really anything but when it comes to treatment. In reality, medical systems have always influenced each other to change and evolve.
In this episode, we look at the influence of technology on Ayurveda. It’s a little window into the transformation of India’s indigenous medical system, beginning in the 1860s.
Projit Bihari Mukharji is an associate professor in the department of history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania, and the author of "Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Sciences" (University of Chicago Press, 2016).

Time Markers (mins:sec)
0:04 "Jibano Jakhano Sukhaya Jay” from movie “Arogya Niketan”
0:53 clash between traditional and Western medicines
1:13 Proji Mukharji intro
2:31 metaphor of braiding
3:22 small technologies
3:49 pocket watch and pulse diagnosis
4:27 quantitative pulse
4:47 qualitative pulse
5:40 pulse and predicting death
6:52 medical thermometer
7:35 fever in Ayurveda
8:05 heat and fever
8:36 narrowing range of body heat
9:12 thermometer and patient care

Episode notes: https://scrollsandleaves.com/chatroom11

Image: Thermometer, Europe, 1801-1900. Credit: Science Museum, London.

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By Mary-Rose Abraham & Gayathri Vaidyanathan
In collaboration with the Archives at NCBS