The Enlightened Mr. Parkinson

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common forms of dementia, with 10,000 new cases each year in the UK alone, and yet few know anything about the man the disease is named after. In 1817 - exactly 200 years ago - James Parkinson (1755-1824) defined the disease so precisely that we still diagnose it today by recognising the symptoms he identified. Here, the story of this remarkable man's contributions to the Age of the Enlightenment is told through his three passions - medicine, politics and fossils.