ABSTRACT

This chapter reviews a few developments in the evolution of the medical understanding of Down syndrome—mongolism, as it was originally called; it provides an illustration of a kind of medical progress that can easily be overlooked. It contrasts Ignaz Semmelweis's account of childbed fever with accounts of rabies that were typical of those that appeared in Semmelweis's time. The chapter introduces some concepts from the philosophy of medicine. John Langdon Haydon Down reported having encountered feebleminded persons, born to Caucasian parents, whose physiognomy suggested Malay, Ethiopian, and Aztec origins. However, the most common ethnic pattern and the only one to which he gave extended attention was one he identified as Mongol. In an attempt to characterize scientific progress in general, Imre Lakatos introduced the concept of scientific research programmes. A research programme is a kind of cooperative activity focusing on the elaboration of scientific theories as a means of explaining observations.