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Ludwik Fleck: Thought Collectives and the Sociology of Medical Knowledge

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The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine

Abstract

One of the most important — indeed the only early — sociologist of medical knowledge went unacknowledged in his lifetime and was left in obscurity until a series of chance events in the 1970s led to his rediscovery. We are still sorting through the implications and applications of his work as this chapter shows. Ludwik Fleck spent most of his professional career in medicine, in particular on disorders of the blood. While he gained a solid professional recognition, the anti-Semitism of the pre-war years and the subsequent war cast a long shadow over many Jewish scholars.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian National University, Australia

    Kevin White (Reader in Sociology)

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  1. Kevin White
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sydney, Australia

    Fran Collyer (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

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© 2015 Kevin White

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White, K. (2015). Ludwik Fleck: Thought Collectives and the Sociology of Medical Knowledge. In: Collyer, F. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137355621_9

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