The word pediatrics is Greek for "healer of children". The Swedish physician Nils Rosen von Rosenstein (1706-1773) is considered to be the founder of modern pediatrics as a medical specialty. His work "The deseases of children and their remedies", written in 1764 is considered to be the first modern textbook on the subject of specifically treating children.
Abraham Jacobi (1830 - 1919) is known as the father of pediatric medicine in the US. He was born in Germany, where he received his training and later moved to New York where he practiced pediatric medicine.
The smaller body of an infant or child is substantially different physiologically from that of an adult. Children are not simply "little adults". The pediatrician must take into account the immature physiology of the infant or child when considering treatments, prescribing medications and diagnosing illnesses.
The collection at EHMHF includes many items used in the practice of pediatrics. Our library contains several books on the treatment of children and diseases of children that span much of the 19th and 20th centuries.
