Abstract

LARIS PARDO, Jorge Alejandro. Elation and Caution. The First Years of X Rays in Yucatan (1905-1923). Península [online]. 2021, vol.16, n.1, pp.85-105.  Epub Feb 04, 2021. ISSN 1870-5766.

The X Ray machine arrived in Yucatán at the beginning of the 20th century. However, this is not an article concerned about primacy, but about the way in which the new technology interacted with and eventually became a part of a world built around ancient customs. This machine entered the medical field in a moment in which the techniques of diagnosis and treatment were experimenting important transformations. Yucatan was a place that had been shaped by ancient traditions, and so, the future place of the new machine in medical practice was uncertain. In this article we explore the way in which local practitioners incorporated it into their own ways of diagnosis and treatment, as well as the way in which this machine reshaped the relationship between doctor and patient.

Keywords : X rays; history of medicine; history of technology; history of Yucatan; medical diagnosis.