August 03, 2026
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
The Mütter Museum's Meet & Geek event explores how doctors once diagnosed disease using their senses, including the smell of yellow fever.
The Mütter Museum will explore how doctors diagnosed illness before modern medical technology during its next Meet & Geek event on Thursday, Aug. 13.
"Meet & Geek: Sensing Illness, Then and Now" will be led by David Barnes, PhD, an associate professor of history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania. The program looks at how physicians once relied on their senses of sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell to recognize disease.
Attendees will learn how illnesses including yellow fever were identified centuries ago and will even have the opportunity to smell the distinctive odor historically associated with the disease. The lecture also explores topics such as "damaged coffee," which was once linked to deadly epidemics, and how medical understanding has changed over time.
The event is part of the Mütter Museum's programming for its special exhibition, "Creating a City of Medicine." Tickets cost $20.
Thursday, Aug. 13 | 6-7:30 p.m.
Mütter Museum
19 S. 22nd St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Admission: $20
This content was generated by PhillyVoice Media Events, not by the newsroom staff.
