Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809 -1894) was an American physician, professor, lecturer and author. Holmes wrote his first book of essays entitled "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table in 1831, while in medical training. Essays in Medical Essays include Homoeopathy and its kindred delusions -- The contagiousness of puerperal fever -- Currents and counter-currents in medical science -- Border lines of knowledge in some provinces of medical science -- Scholastic and bedside teaching -- The medical profession in Massachusetts -- The young practitioner -- Medical libraries -- Some of my early teachers