The historiography of medical history: from great men to archaeology.

The history of medicine is always written from the basis of the historian. Contemporary historiography provides an understanding of the major methods of historical analysis and their influences on the writing of medical history. Medical history in the 20th century has emphasized the historiographic methods of the history of great men, historicism, social history, and intellectual history. Each methodology has inherent biases that influence the historian's analysis of the past. Understanding the historian's biases provides the reader important tools for the interpretation of medical history.