Stress Test: Cartoons on Medicine

by Sidney Harris

Feeling under the weather? Weary with waiting rooms? Dreading a diagnosis? Cure thyself with a healthy dose of Sidney Harris! Well known for his zany cartoons on science, education, and the law, Sidney Harris now takes on the world of medicine. These lighthearted jabs at doctors, patients, hospitals, medical schools, medical research, and healthcare policy are guaranteed to make you feel better! These cartoons have enlivened the pages of the New Yorker, Science, Punch, U.S. Medicine, American Scientist, Hippocrates, National Lampoon, and many other publications.

Genres: Humor

Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Sidney Harris, a.k.a. S. Harris, is an American cartoonist who draws cartoons about science, mathematics, and technology.
Harris was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 8, 1933, and obtained his degree from Brooklyn College. He then attended the Art Students League in New York before beginning his career as a science cartoonist in 1955.
Harris's cartoons have appeared in numerous scientific journals as well as general-audience magazines. Over 600 of his cartoons were published by American Scientist. Other appearances include Science, Current Contents, Discover, Physics Today, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Harvard Business Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Chicago, Playboy and National Lampoon. Harris has had more than 20 cartoon collections published, and a traveling exhibit of his work has appeared in many museums.
Harris was elected as the 19th honorary member of Sigma Xi, a scientific honor society, in 1997.

Reviews

[Sally Sugarman · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a wide variety of cartoons, many of them poking fun at therapists. Some challenge medical researchers and experts. Others raise issues about the cost of health care as well as questions about the competence of doctors. Many seem appropriate to where we currently are with the pandemic. Given that the book was published in 1994, that is impressive Many of the cartoons were published in professional journals indicating the profession has a sense of humor about itself. Everyone will find cartoons that are particularly amusing to them given their experience with their own physicans.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A number of them are rather science-geeky, again, though they all related to medicine

Two hippos seeing the vultures descend and one says, "I didn't even know he was sick."

A hospital room, a huddle of doctors, and an objection that confidentiality is all very well, but they do need to be told about the case.

A microbe grumbling about working like crazy and being called a low-grade infection.

A man sitting up in his hospital bed, reading the newspaper, and the doctor tell him that what he felt like didn't matter, the definitions said he was dead.

And many more.