Edgar Ashworth Underwood was a Scottish physician who began his career in public health and later became director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.
Early life and family
Edgar Underwood was born in Dumfries, Scotland, on 9 March 1899 to David Underwood, a bus driver, and his wife Janet Grierson. He was schooled at Dumfries Academy, where he became dux (head boy). In 1949 he married Nancy Waley Singer, daughter of the historian of science and medicine, Charles Singer. ==Career==
Career
During the First World War Underwood served in the Cameron Highlanders between 1917 and 1919. ==History of medicine specialism==
History of medicine specialism
Underwood was interested in the history of medicine from early in his career. In 1962, he published a revised edition of Charles Singer's A Short History of Medicine. His Life of Edward Jenner was never published. ==Recognition==
Recognition
In 1965, Underwood became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and in 1970 he received an honorary DLitt from the University of Glasgow. ==Death and legacy==
Death and legacy
Underwood died at his home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 6 March 1980. ==Selected publications==
Selected publications
Articles • • Books • A Manual of Tuberculosis for Nurses. E. & S. Livingstone, Edinburgh, 1931. (2nd 1938, 3rd 1945) (Introduction by J. R. Currie) • Annual Report on the Health Services for the Year 1937, in the County Borough of West Ham • A Short History of Medicine. 2nd edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1962. (With Charles Singer) • ''Boerhaave's Men at Leyden and After''. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1977. ISBN 085224312X • Edward Jenner: The man and his work. The Jenner Trust, c. 1985. == References ==