The M.D. - Revision history

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Chapter 8

Eb: /* his caduceus is now a symbol of the science of medicine */

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his caduceus is now a symbol of the science of medicine

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his caduceus is now a symbol of the science of medicine

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his caduceus is now a symbol of the science of medicine

Eb at 20:15, 25 January 2025

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Eb: /* Further reading */

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Eb at 20:22, 22 January 2025

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 == Other reading ==
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20201025031431/https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-m-d University of Minnesota Press page] for their edition {{InternetArchive|date=October 27, 2020}}
 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20180714223451/http://www.ukjarry1.talktalk.net/md.htm Matthew Davis's page] for the book {{InternetArchive|date=July 4, 2018}}
-* [https://www.tor.com/2010/11/09/guided-tour-supernatural-minnesota-md/ Review and discussion] by Ron Hogan on tor.com
+* [https://reactormag.com/guided-tour-supernatural-minnesota-md/ Review and discussion] by Ron Hogan on ''Reactor''
 == Footnotes ==

@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 But there are other reasons for the caduceus to be symbolically appropriate in this book. One is Mercury's association with business, since Billy's adult life will be devoted to amassing not just magical power but also corporate power. Another is the double-snake design; Disch pointed out that this could express "duality and balance, corresponding to the scientific view that for every action there's a reaction"—and that it resembles the double helix of DNA.<ref name="disch-finkle-interview">{{cite article|author=Finkle, David|date=April 19, 1991|title=Thomas M. Disch: versatile and prolific, he has written books
 in nearly every genre|publication=Publishers Weekly|pub-date=Vol. 238, Issue 18}}</ref>
 === his real father ... sold the ''Junior Universe of Knowledge Encyclopedia'' ===

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 This is true in a way, but the story isn't so straightforward. The traditional medical symbol was for thousands of years, and technically still is, the {{wp|rod of Asclepius}}—similar to the caduceus, but with just one snake and no wings. The {{wp|caduceus as a symbol of medicine}} does have some historical roots, but its widespread adoption didn't really happen until the 20th century, basically by mistake.<ref>{{cite article|author=Garrison, F.H.|title=The use of the caduceus in the insignia of the Army medical officer|url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC234831/?page=1|date=1919|publication=Bulletin of the Medical Library Association|pub-date=9(2):13–16}} The symbol was popularized by the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and in this article the Army medical historian {{wp|Fielding Hudson Garrison|Fielding Garrison}} justified its use to mean that Army medical workers were ''noncombatants''—based on past use of the caduceus as a symbol for a messenger or herald, someone who should have in effect diplomatic immunity. But it's unclear who actually started this usage, and Garrison may have been only guessing as to their rationale; he also mentions that some earlier appearances of the caduceus in medical history have no clear explanation, so you could, if you felt like it, see these as cases of Mercury manipulating people behind the scenes.</ref> Unlike Asclepius, Mercury/Hermes in mythology was not directly associated with healing; his main attributes were as a messenger (often an untrustworthy one), a transporter of dead souls, and a facilitator of commerce, and the caduceus was not even specific to him but was a general accessory for messengers and heralds. If one believed Mercury to be a real entity who's still with us, then the current role of the caduceus in the human imagination could be seen as evidence of his great skill at deceptive self-promotion; that's consistent with the characterizations of both Mercury and Billy in ''The M.D.'', since they're both unscrupulous and acquisitive people who are happy to take credit they don't deserve. Billy often isn't honest with himself either, and maybe the same is true of Mercury, who tells two contradictory stories about the caduceus in Chapter 10 and claims that he can't actually remember which is right.
-But there are other reasons for the caduceus to be symbolically appropriate in this book. One is Mercury's association with business; Billy's adult life will be devoted to amassing not just magical power but also corporate power. Another is the double-snake design; Disch pointed out that this could express "duality and balance, corresponding to the scientific view that for every action there's a reaction"—and that it resembles the double helix of DNA.<ref name="disch-finkle-interview">{{cite article|author=Finkle, David|date=April 19, 1991|title=Thomas M. Disch: versatile and prolific, he has written books
+But there are other reasons for the caduceus to be symbolically appropriate in this book. One is Mercury's association with business, since Billy's adult life will be devoted to amassing not just magical power but also corporate power. Another is the double-snake design; Disch pointed out that this could express "duality and balance, corresponding to the scientific view that for every action there's a reaction"—and that it resembles the double helix of DNA.<ref name="disch-finkle-interview">{{cite article|author=Finkle, David|date=April 19, 1991|title=Thomas M. Disch: versatile and prolific, he has written books
 in nearly every genre|publication=Publishers Weekly|pub-date=Vol. 238, Issue 18}}</ref>

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
 This is true in a way, but the story isn't so straightforward. The traditional medical symbol was for thousands of years, and technically still is, the {{wp|rod of Asclepius}}—similar to the caduceus, but with just one snake and no wings. The {{wp|caduceus as a symbol of medicine}} does have some historical roots, but its widespread adoption didn't really happen until the 20th century, basically by mistake.<ref>{{cite article|author=Garrison, F.H.|title=The use of the caduceus in the insignia of the Army medical officer|url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC234831/?page=1|date=1919|publication=Bulletin of the Medical Library Association|pub-date=9(2):13–16}} The symbol was popularized by the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and in this article the Army medical historian {{wp|Fielding Hudson Garrison|Fielding Garrison}} justified its use to mean that Army medical workers were ''noncombatants''—based on past use of the caduceus as a symbol for a messenger or herald, someone who should have in effect diplomatic immunity. But it's unclear who actually started this usage, and Garrison may have been only guessing as to their rationale; he also mentions that some earlier appearances of the caduceus in medical history have no clear explanation, so you could, if you felt like it, see these as cases of Mercury manipulating people behind the scenes.</ref> Unlike Asclepius, Mercury/Hermes in mythology was not directly associated with healing; his main attributes were as a messenger (often an untrustworthy one), a transporter of dead souls, and a facilitator of commerce, and the caduceus was not even specific to him but was a general accessory for messengers and heralds. If one believed Mercury to be a real entity who's still with us, then the current role of the caduceus in the human imagination could be seen as evidence of his great skill at deceptive self-promotion; that's consistent with the characterizations of both Mercury and Billy in ''The M.D.'', since they're both unscrupulous and acquisitive people who are happy to take credit they don't deserve. Billy often isn't honest with himself either, and maybe the same is true of Mercury, who tells two contradictory stories about the caduceus in Chapter 10 and claims that he can't actually remember which is right.
-But there are other reasons for the caduceus to be symbolically appropriate in this book. One is Mercury's association with business; Billy's adult life will be
+But there are other reasons for the caduceus to be symbolically appropriate in this book. One is Mercury's association with business; Billy's adult life will be devoted to amassing not just magical power but also corporate power. Another is the double-snake design; Disch pointed out that this could express "duality and balance, corresponding to the scientific view that for every action there's a reaction"—and that it resembles the double helix of DNA.<ref name="disch-finkle-interview">{{cite article|author=Finkle, David|date=April 19, 1991|title=Thomas M. Disch: versatile and prolific, he has written books
 in nearly every genre|publication=Publishers Weekly|pub-date=Vol. 238, Issue 18}}</ref>

@@ Line 64: / Line 64: @@
 === his caduceus is now a symbol of the science of medicine ===
-Although a common belief, this is not quite right: the traditional medical symbol is the somewhat similar {{wp|rod of Asclepius}}, which has only one snake and no wings; the {{wp|caduceus as a symbol of medicine}} developed in the 20th century, by mistake. It's unclear whether Disch himself confused the two, or meant this as another example of Mercury's untrustworthy nature, since in chapter 10 Mercury mentions two contradictory stories about the caduceus.
+This is true in a way, but the story isn't so straightforward. The traditional medical symbol was for thousands of years, and technically still is, the {{wp|rod of Asclepius}}—similar to the caduceus, but with just one snake and no wings. The {{wp|caduceus as a symbol of medicine}} does have some historical roots, but its widespread adoption didn't really happen until the 20th century, basically by mistake.<ref>{{cite article|author=Garrison, F.H.|title=The use of the caduceus in the insignia of the Army medical officer|url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC234831/?page=1|date=1919|publication=Bulletin of the Medical Library Association|pub-date=9(2):13–16}} The symbol was popularized by the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and in this article the Army medical historian {{wp|Fielding Hudson Garrison|Fielding Garrison}} justified its use to mean that Army medical workers were ''noncombatants''—based on past use of the caduceus as a symbol for a messenger or herald, someone who should have in effect diplomatic immunity. But it's unclear who actually started this usage, and Garrison may have been only guessing as to their rationale; he also mentions that some earlier appearances of the caduceus in medical history have no clear explanation, so you could, if you felt like it, see these as cases of Mercury manipulating people behind the scenes.</ref> Unlike Asclepius, Mercury/Hermes in mythology was not directly associated with healing; his main attributes were as a messenger (often an untrustworthy one), a transporter of dead souls, and a facilitator of commerce, and the caduceus was not even specific to him but was a general accessory for messengers and heralds. If one believed Mercury to be a real entity who's still with us, then the current role of the caduceus in the human imagination could be seen as evidence of his great skill at deceptive self-promotion; that's consistent with the characterizations of both Mercury and Billy in ''The M.D.'', since they're both unscrupulous and acquisitive people who are happy to take credit they don't deserve. Billy often isn't honest with himself either, and maybe the same is true of Mercury, who tells two contradictory stories about the caduceus in Chapter 10 and claims that he can't actually remember which is right.
 === his real father ... sold the ''Junior Universe of Knowledge Encyclopedia'' ===

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 '''''The M.D.: A Horror Story''''' (1991) is [[Thomas M. Disch]]'s second ''Supernatural Minnesota'' novel. Sharing most of its setting and time period with ''[[The Businessman]]'' (although, unlike that book, there is also a speculative part of the story that takes place in the then-near-future of 1999), it describes the rise and fall of Billy Michaels, a medical doctor with dangerous magic powers over health and disease.
-All notes refer to the 2010 University of Minnesota Press edition, which has a very good introduction by John Clute.
+All notes refer to the 2010 University of Minnesota Press edition, which has a very good introduction by John Clute. For others, see '''[[/Editions/]]'''.
 == Major characters ==

@@ Line 273: / Line 273: @@
 The second instance in the Supernatural Minnesota series of a [[The Businessman#in the Sheehys.27 burning home|burning house]].
-== Further reading ==
+== Other reading ==
 * [http://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-m-d University of Minnesota Press page] for their edition
-* [http://www.ukjarry1.talktalk.net/md.htm Matthew Davis's page] for the book - lists all the known editions and translations
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180714223451/http://www.ukjarry1.talktalk.net/md.htm Matthew Davis's page] for the book {{InternetArchive|date=July 4, 2018}}
 * [https://www.tor.com/2010/11/09/guided-tour-supernatural-minnesota-md/ Review and discussion] by Ron Hogan on tor.com

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	'''''The M.D.: A Horror Story''''' (1991) is [[Thomas M. Disch]]'s second ''Supernatural Minnesota'' novel. Sharing most of its setting and time period with ''[[The Businessman]]'' (although, unlike that book, there is also a speculative part of the story that takes place in the then-near-future of 1999), it describes the rise and fall of Billy Michaels, a medical doctor with dangerous magic powers over health and disease.		'''''The M.D.: A Horror Story''''' (1991) is [[Thomas M. Disch]]'s second ''Supernatural Minnesota'' novel. Sharing most of its setting and time period with ''[[The Businessman]]'' (although, unlike that book, there is also a speculative part of the story that takes place in the then-near-future of 1999), it describes the rise and fall of Billy Michaels, a medical doctor with dangerous magic powers over health and disease.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:05, 22 January 2025
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	'''''The M.D.: A Horror Story''''' (1991) is [[Thomas M. Disch]]'s second ''Supernatural Minnesota'' novel. Sharing most of its setting and time period with ''[[The Businessman]]'' (although, unlike that book, there is also a speculative part of the story that takes place in the then-near-future of 1999), it describes the rise and fall of Billy Michaels, a medical doctor with dangerous magic powers over health and disease.		'''''The M.D.: A Horror Story''''' (1991) is [[Thomas M. Disch]]'s second ''Supernatural Minnesota'' novel. Sharing most of its setting and time period with ''[[The Businessman]]'' (although, unlike that book, there is also a speculative part of the story that takes place in the then-near-future of 1999), it describes the rise and fall of Billy Michaels, a medical doctor with dangerous magic powers over health and disease.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 : —Dr. Elissa P. Benedek, as quoted in "Children Who Kill," ''New York Times'', Oct. 11, 1983
-The cited ''New York Times'' article<ref>Nelson, Bryce. [http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/11/science/children-who-kill-personality-patterns-are-identified.html?pagewanted=all&mcubz=1 "Children Who Kill"]. ''The New York Times'', October 11, 1983. Retrieved September 11, 2017.</ref> is ironic in the context of ''The M.D.'', since it emphasizes the role of severe early trauma in molding a homicidal child. Billy Michaels may be what the article describes as a "nonempathic murderer," one of those without "the psychological ability to put themselves in the place of another," but his relatively sheltered childhood is almost exactly the opposite of people in that category who are said to have "a history of assaultive behavior, severe reading problems and inability to cope with stress." Disch may be implying that if such a person can in fact develop simply through intellectual curiosity, then it's not really the case that "the average American parent doesn't need to fear being murdered."
+The cited ''New York Times'' article<ref>{{cite article|author=Nelson, Bryce|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/11/science/children-who-kill-personality-patterns-are-identified.html?pagewanted=all&mcubz=1|title=Children Who Kill|publication=New York Times|date=October 11, 1983|accessed=September 11, 2017}}</ref> is ironic in the context of ''The M.D.'', since it emphasizes the role of severe early trauma in molding a homicidal child. Billy Michaels may be what the article describes as a "nonempathic murderer," one of those without "the psychological ability to put themselves in the place of another," but his relatively sheltered childhood is almost exactly the opposite of people in that category who are said to have "a history of assaultive behavior, severe reading problems and inability to cope with stress." Disch may be implying that if such a person can in fact develop simply through intellectual curiosity, then it's not really the case that "the average American parent doesn't need to fear being murdered."
 == Chapter 1 ==
 === Sister Mary Symphorosa ===
-Named after a [[wikipedia:Symphorosa|2nd century martyr]]. Disch wrote in "My Life as a Child" that this character and her crusade against Santa Claus were based on a nun who taught him in kindergarten at St. Paul's Convent School in Fairmont, Minnesota (where there was also a Sister Fidelis; we'll see in chapter 57 that Sister Fidelis, the more benevolent of the nuns, ends up joining a liberal reform movement in the Church).{{ref Disch child}} Despite her abusive behavior, he was not without sympathy: "I think I give her honorable reasons for doing what she did .... [she's] right in saying that Santa Claus is pernicious, that teaching people to believe something you know they're going to find out is a lie is teaching them disbelief."{{ref Disch SF Eye}}
+Named after a {{wp|Symphorosa|2nd century martyr}}. Disch wrote in "My Life as a Child" that this character and her crusade against Santa Claus were based on a nun who taught him in kindergarten at St. Paul's Convent School in Fairmont, Minnesota (where there was also a Sister Fidelis; we'll see in chapter 57 that Sister Fidelis, the more benevolent of the nuns, ends up joining a liberal reform movement in the Church).{{ref Disch child}} Despite her abusive behavior, he was not without sympathy: "I think I give her honorable reasons for doing what she did .... [she's] right in saying that Santa Claus is pernicious, that teaching people to believe something you know they're going to find out is a lie is teaching them disbelief."{{ref Disch SF Eye}}
 === When meat isn't properly preserved ===
@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 === Billy Graham was on the news ===
-[[wikipedia:Billy Graham|Graham]], as the first evangelical minister to develop a mass following on television, is an obvious forerunner to the digital-age Brother Orson later in the novel.
+{{wp|Billy Graham|Graham}}, as the first evangelical minister to develop a mass following on television, is an obvious forerunner to the digital-age Brother Orson later in the novel.
 == Chapter 8 ==
@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
 === Billy was only just turned seven ===
-In a story with so strongly Catholic a setting, the age of seven is significant because it's traditionally the [[wikipedia:Person (canon law)#Age of Reason|age of reason]], after which a child is said to have moral responsibility. Billy made his bargain with Mercury just before turning seven, so according to this tradition he can't be considered responsible for it; but his first use of the caduceus to harm a person happens after his seventh birthday.
+In a story with so strongly Catholic a setting, the age of seven is significant because it's traditionally the {{wp|Person (canon law)#Age of Reason|age of reason}}, after which a child is said to have moral responsibility. Billy made his bargain with Mercury just before turning seven, so according to this tradition he can't be considered responsible for it; but his first use of the caduceus to harm a person happens after his seventh birthday.
 == Chapter 16 ==
 === the Vigil of Saman ... the Druid god of Death ===
-Although the kind of children's encyclopedia Disch is imitating here might well have given such an explanation, it's etymologically wrong: [[wikipedia:Samhain#Etymology|several sources concur]] that Shamhna/Samhain is derived from words referring more generically to the idea of a festival or a season. Bruce Robinson argues that there is little to no evidence that the holiday was named after any "god of Death," but that Christian writers started perpetuating this error in the 18th century and have spread it into popular culture.<ref>Robinson, Bruce. [http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_sa.htm "About Halloween: The myth about the 'Celtic god of the dead.'"] ''Religious Tolerance'', October 22, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2017.</ref> But, as with all of Mercury's/Santa's other statements so far, any inaccuracies that could be the author's fault could also be blamed on the god just reflecting back to Billy whatever ideas Billy has already picked up.
+Although the kind of children's encyclopedia Disch is imitating here might well have given such an explanation, it's etymologically wrong: {{wp|Samhain#Etymology|several sources concur}} that Shamhna/Samhain is derived from words referring more generically to the idea of a festival or a season. Bruce Robinson argues that there is little to no evidence that the holiday was named after any "god of Death," but that Christian writers started perpetuating this error in the 18th century and have spread it into popular culture.<ref>{{cite article|author=Robinson, Bruce|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_sa.htm|title=About Halloween: The myth about the 'Celtic god of the dead'|publication=Religious Tolerance|date=October 22, 2015|accessed=September 11, 2017}}</ref> But, as with all of Mercury's/Santa's other statements so far, any inaccuracies that could be the author's fault could also be blamed on the god just reflecting back to Billy whatever ideas Billy has already picked up.
 === What rhymed with "now"? ===
@@ Line 127: / Line 127: @@
 === Mississippi—Father of Waters ===
-The statue described here is "Father of Waters" by Larkin Goldsmith Mead, which in reality is at [[wikipedia:Minneapolis City Hall#Interior|Minneapolis City Hall]].
+The statue described here is "Father of Waters" by Larkin Goldsmith Mead, which in reality is at {{wp|Minneapolis City Hall#Interior|Minneapolis City Hall}}.
 == Chapter 44 ==
@@ Line 148: / Line 148: @@
 === Bradley-Chambers syndrome ===
-This congenital disorder is fictional, and combines the features of many real kinds of birth defects. It is referenced, with language clearly derived from ''The M.D.'', in fantasy author James Morrow's play ''The Soap Opera''.<ref>Morrow, James. "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 46: The Soap Opera". In ''Bible Stories for Adults''. Mariner Books, 1996. ISBN 0156002442</ref>
+This congenital disorder is fictional, and combines the features of many real kinds of birth defects. It is referenced, with language clearly derived from ''The M.D.'', in fantasy author James Morrow's play ''The Soap Opera''.<ref>{{cite article|author=Morrow, James|date=1996|title=Bible Stories for Adults, No. 46: The Soap Opera|publication=Bible Stories for Adults|publisher=Mariner Books|isbn=0156002442}}</ref>
 == Chapter 56 ==
@@ Line 155: / Line 155: @@
 One of the non-technological signs that we are now in a speculative near-future world: a branch of the Catholic Church has split off from Roman authority and embraced many liberal reforms. This will be explored in more detail in the next chapter.
-Disch had been thinking about such a possibility at least 20 years earlier, when he included something similar as a minor detail in the future world of ''[[334]]''. Whether it was ever likely in the real United States is hard to say. During much of the 20th century, the Catholic Church in America was associated with political progressivism in terms of civil rights, class issues, and immigration. In terms of sexuality, it was not; but so many practicing Catholics were more liberal than the Church in that regard that one could easily imagine the hierarchy eventually moving that way too. Instead, from the 1980s onward, anti-abortion politics and backlash to LGBTQ rights created an increasing alliance between Catholics and right-wing Protestants, and the most conservative elements have gained influence in the US as the demographics of the Church have changed.<ref>[https://www.ncronline.org/news/step-back-time-americas-catholic-church-sees-immense-shift-toward-old-ways "'A step back in time': America's Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways."] ''National Catholic Reporter'', May 6, 2024. Retrieved January 1, 2025.</ref> It's now arguably more plausible that a US/Rome schism would produce a US Church that is further right than the Pope.
+Disch had been thinking about such a possibility at least 20 years earlier, when he included something similar as a minor detail in the future world of ''[[334]]''. Whether it was ever likely in the real United States is hard to say. During much of the 20th century, the Catholic Church in America was associated with political progressivism in terms of civil rights, class issues, and immigration. In terms of sexuality, it was not; but so many practicing Catholics were more liberal than the Church in that regard that one could easily imagine the hierarchy eventually moving that way too. Instead, from the 1980s onward, anti-abortion politics and backlash to LGBTQ rights created an increasing alliance between Catholics and right-wing Protestants, and the most conservative elements have gained influence in the US as the demographics of the Church have changed.<ref>{{cite article|url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/step-back-time-americas-catholic-church-sees-immense-shift-toward-old-ways|title='A step back in time': America's Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways|publication=National Catholic Reporter|date=May 6, 2024|accessed=January 1, 2025}}</ref> It's now arguably more plausible that a US/Rome schism would produce a US Church that is further right than the Pope.
 === a follower of Brother Orson ===
@@ Line 177: / Line 177: @@
 === the Kiss of Peace ===
-The kiss or [[wikipedia:Kiss of peace|sign of peace]] has been a part of regular Catholic Mass since 1969, but in many US congregations it is replaced with a handshake.
+The kiss or {{wp|Kiss of peace|sign of peace}} has been a part of regular Catholic Mass since 1969, but in many US congregations it is replaced with a handshake.
 === Brother Orson holds out little hope of salvation for the sons of Ham ===
@@ Line 197: / Line 197: @@
 === a chain of hotels, a prison system, and a realty and construction company ===
-In the US, [[wikipedia:Private prison#In the United States|privatized prisons]] in the modern sense began in 1984, and were immediately controversial but have continued to grow ever since. Disch anticipated this trend in a somewhat different way five years earlier in ''[[On Wings of Song]]'', where the prisons are set up on such a laissez-faire model that they have hardly any staff.
+In the US, {{wp|Private prison#In the United States|privatized prisons}} in the modern sense began in 1984, and were immediately controversial but have continued to grow ever since. Disch anticipated this trend in a somewhat different way five years earlier in ''[[On Wings of Song]]'', where the prisons are set up on such a laissez-faire model that they have hardly any staff.
 === To keep Northwestern out of Onamia ===
@@ Line 232: / Line 232: @@
 === After the Fourth it'll be too late ===
-Since Madge's instructions to her mother in chapter 62 established that it's now June, Judge's birthday must be the [[wikipedia:Independence Day (United States)|fourth of July]].
+Since Madge's instructions to her mother in chapter 62 established that it's now June, Judge's birthday must be the {{wp|Independence Day (United States)|fourth of July}}.
 == Chapter 68 ==
@@ Line 261: / Line 261: @@
 === MEAT—8 pounds ===
-Judge's guess is not far off: the average weight of a human head, depending on whom you ask,<ref>Gekhman, Dmitriy. [https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/DmitriyGekhman.shtml "Mass of a Human Head"]. ''The Physics Factbook'', 2006. Retrieved September 15, 2017.</ref> is somewhere between 8 and 12 pounds.
+Judge's guess is not far off: the average weight of a human head, depending on whom you ask,<ref>{{cite article|author=Gekhman, Dmitriy|url=https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/DmitriyGekhman.shtml|title=Mass of a Human Head|publication=The Physics Factbook|date=2006|accessed=September 15, 2017}}</ref> is somewhere between 8 and 12 pounds.
 == Chapter 81 ==
 === a simple compound beat, systole and diastole ===
-Two phases of a [[wikipedia:cardiac cycle|heartbeat]].
+Two phases of a {{wp|cardiac cycle|heartbeat}}.
 == Chapter 82 ==