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Vida Latham

Vida Latham is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Vida Latham rather than just read about it. In short: Vida Annette Latham (1866–1958) was a British-American dentist, physician, microscopist, and researcher, known for her work in publishing and her research on oral tumors, surgery, and anatomy. Early life and education Vida Latham was born in Lancashire in 1866 to a physician father.

Key takeaways

  • Vida Latham belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Vida Latham to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Vida Latham from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Vida Annette Latham (1866–1958) was a British-American dentist, physician, microscopist, and researcher, known for her work in publishing and her research on oral tumors, surgery, and anatomy.

Early life and education Vida Latham was born in Lancashire in 1866 to a physician father. Her early education took place in Cambridge and Manchester. She earned her master's degree from the University of London in 1889; she published papers on tooth anatomy and pain in 1888 while working at a London dentist's office. She then moved to the United States because she could not practice in the UK with an American dentistry degree. She earned her DDS in 1892 from the University of Michigan, and her MD from Northwestern University in 1895.

Career and research While studying for her DDS, she was a demonstrator in comparative dental anatomy and pathological bacteriology as well as a museum curator. While studying for her MD, Latham was a secretary and lectured in stomatology and dental surgery at Northwestern, and in pharmacy. She served as an oral surgeon at the Women's and Children's hospital from 1892 to 1897. Concurrently, she was on the faculty of the American Dental College, though she held this position until 1898. Latham was a member of Chicago's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1902. She joined the Illinois State Dental Society in 1918 and became a lifelong member. From 1929 to 1931 she was an attending physician at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago, where she spent the rest of her career from 1929 on as a microanalyst and physician. Latham was also a prolific journal and book editor, including the Medical Woman's Journal, the Polk Dental Dictionary, and the Standard Medical Dictionary. She researched throughout her career on oral surgery, operative dentistry, the neural anatomy of the jaw and teeth, palate tumors, oral cavity cysts, facial fractures, lead poisoning, aniline dyes, specimen preparation, blood tests for diabetes, the vasomotor system of teeth, and neoplasms of the tooth pulp. She spent her career advocating for a more rigorous dentistry curriculum and for women in both dentistry and medicine.

Honors and professional memberships

Stomatological Society – member American Microscopical Society – member American Medical Association – fellow American Dental Association – member Microscopical Society – vice-president/public health secretary (1905) Society of Parasitology – member Illinois Microscopic Society – secretary (1893)/president (1932) New York Academy – member Women's Medical Club – Chicago chapter, vice president (1931)/president (1933) Women's Dental Association – president Royal Microscopical Society – fellow Manchester Microscopic Society – corresponding member Quekett Microscopical Club – fellow Victoria Microscopical Society – member International Stomatological Association – member

Selected articles Suggestions for Amateur Microscopists (1912) A Plea for Symposium Work. Pondlife and New Methods of Narcotizing Polyzoa Rotifera (1909) What is the Best Method of Teaching Microscopical Science in Medical Schools? (1897) A Plea for the Study of Re-Agents in Micro Work (1894) A Brief Account of the Microscopial Anatomy in a Case of Chrome Lead Poisoning (1891) The Use of Stains, Especially with Reference to Their Value for Differential Diagnosis (1891)

References

External links Latham's personal papers

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vida Latham

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vida Latham claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vida Latham before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vida Latham ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vida Latham

In research
Vida Latham appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Vida Latham in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Vida Latham is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1866 births, 1958 deaths, 19th-century American dentists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Vida Latham outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Vida Latham in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Vida Latham means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Vida Latham out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vida Latham in simple terms?

Vida Annette Latham (1866–1958) was a British-American dentist, physician, microscopist, and researcher, known for her work in publishing and her research on oral tumors, surgery, and anatomy. Early life and education Vida Latham was born in Lancashire in 1866 to a physician father.

Why does Vida Latham matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vida Latham?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vida Latham.

Tags

  • 1866 births
  • 1958 deaths
  • 19th-century American dentists
  • 20th-century American dentists
  • 20th-century British dentists
  • American women dentists
  • British emigrants to the United States
  • British women medical doctors
  • Feinberg School of Medicine alumni
  • Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society
  • Medical doctors from Lancashire
  • Microscopists

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