Thomas Dwight (1843–1911) was an American physician,

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Life

Thomas Dwight was born on October 13, 1843, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. His father was also named Thomas Dwight (born September 27, 1807 – 1876 ), part of the

New England Dwight family The Dwight family of New England had many members who were military leaders, educators, jurists, authors, businessmen and clergy. Around 1634, John Dwight came with his wife Hannah, daughter Hannah, and sons Timothy (1629–1718) and John (d. 163 ...

. His mother was Mary Collins Warren (b. Jan 19, 1816-Oct 22. 1900 ), whose father

John Collins Warren John Collins Warren (August 1, 1778 – May 4, 1856) was an American surgeon. In 1846 he gave permission to William T.G. Morton to provide ether anesthesia while Warren performed a minor surgical procedure. News of this first public demonstrat ...

(1778 –1856), and grandfather John Warren (1753–1815) were both surgeons.

Dwight joined the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1856, and graduated from the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

in 1867. After studying abroad, he was instructor in comparative anatomy at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, 1872–1873, he also lectured at Bowdoin College. He succeeded

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...

as Parkman

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

at Harvard Medical School in 1883. In the Warren Museum of Anatomy at Harvard, Dwight arranged a section of osteology, considered one of the best in existence, and he had an international reputation as an anatomist. Among his writings are: "''Frozen Sections of a Child''" (1872); "''Clinical Atlas of Variations of the Bones of the Hands and Feet''" (1907); "''Thoughts of a Catholic Anatomist''" (1911), a valuable work of Christian

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...

. Dwight died September 8, 1911, in

Nahant Nahant is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,334 at the 2020 census, which makes it the smallest municipality by population in Essex County. With just of land area, it is the smallest municipality by are ...

, at age 68."Dr. Dwight Thomas Dead,"
''The New York Times'', September 9, 1911.

Selected works

''The Anatomy of the Head''
Boston: H.O. Houghton & Company, 1876.
''Frozen Sections of a Child''
New York: William Wood & Company, 1881. * ''Commonplaces of History.'' Boston: Review Pub. Co., 1900.
''A Clinical Atlas, Variations of the Bones of the Hands and Feet.''
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1907. * ''The Church and Science.'' Boston: Review Pub. Co., 1908.
''Thoughts of a Catholic Anatomist.''
London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1911.
''Human Anatomy.''
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1923.

Articles

Thomas Dwight Contortionist Durvasasana 1889

"Remarks on the Brain, Illustrated by the Description of the Brain of a Distinguished Man,"
''Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'', Vol. 13, 1877–1878.
"The Significance of Anatomical Anomalies,"
''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'', Vol. XI, 1886.
"Science or Bumblepuppy,"
''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'', Vol. XII, 1887.
"The Range of Variation of the Human Shoulder-Blade,"
''The American Naturalist'', Vol. 21, No. 7, Jul., 1887. * "Anatomy of the Contortionist," ''

Scribner's Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

'', April 1889. * "What Is Right-Handedness?," ''Scribner's'', April 1891.
"Observations on the Psoas Parvus and Pyramidalis. A Study of Variation,"
''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'', Vol. 31, No. 140, 1893.
"Sir Richard Owen,"
''Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'', Vol. 28, 1892–1893. * "Reminiscences of Dr. Holmes, as Professor of Anatomy," ''Scribner's'', January 1895.
"The Significance of Anomalies,"
''The American Naturalist'', Vol. 29, No. 338, 1895.
"The Teaching of Anatomy,"
''Science'', New Series, Vol. 4, No. 83, 1896. * "Anatomy Laws versus Body Snatching," ''The Forum'', December 1896.
"Mutations,"
''Science'', New Series, Vol. 21, No. 536, 1905.

Gallery

File:Dr. Thomas Dwight lecturing students.jpeg, Dr. Thomas Dwight, lecturing students, 1906. File:Dr. Thomas Dwight.jpg, Dr. Thomas Dwight, 1843–1911.

References

External links

*
Works by Thomas Dwight
at

Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwight, Thomas American anatomists 1843 births 1911 deaths Harvard Medical School alumni Harvard Medical School faculty Trustees of the Boston Public Library