Requiem for the humanities

Abstract

Mary Jane, the medical student on our service, writes good medical histories and always knows the results of the latest laboratory tests. She is pleasant, polite, and works hard; but she has read little outside medicine. She has never heard of Henry James; has no idea who Jane Austen was; has never read Hemingway. She would think that Julius Caesar makes salads or delivers babies, and that Deuteronomy is one of his more complicated obstetric operations. Of the world's capitals she can name only London, Paris, and (surprise!) Brasilia. She has never been to a symphony concert; has never set foot in a museum; and she does not …