Examining a 300-year period that encompasses the Scientific Revolution, this engrossing book offers a fresh and clearly organized discussion of the human experience of health, medicine, and health care, from the Age of Discovery to the era of the French Revolution.
It was a time of great change, but also one that clung stubbornly to the past. Even with the microscope in use for two centuries, the germ evaded discovery throughout the period, leaving contagion a mystery. Even more surprising given all of the advances of the Enlightenment, the ancient Roman and Hippocrates disciple "Galen of Pergamon" remained the principal medical authority in the West.
Health and Wellness in the Renaissance and Enlightenment compares and contrasts health-care practices of various cultures from around the world during the vital period from 1500 to 1800. These years, which include the Age of Discovery and the Scientific Revolution, were a period of rapid advance of both science and medicine. New drugs were developed and new practices, some of which stemmed from increasingly frequent contact between various cultures, were initiated.
Examining the medical systems of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the colonial world, this comprehensive study covers a wide array of topics including education and training of medical professionals and the interaction of faith, religion, and medicine. The book looks specifically at issues related to women's health and the health of infants and children, at infectious diseases and occupational and environmental hazards, and at brain and mental disorders. Chapters also focus on advances in surgery, dentistry, and orthopedics and on the apothecary and his pharmacopoeia.
Features
• Photographs and illustrations from medical texts and other works of the period
• A glossary of technical, cultural, and historical terms
• A bibliography of modern and period resources
Highlights
• Covers an important period of contact between the West and the rest of the world and the impact that had on medical practice
• Explores a wide range of everyday medical and social topics, including war, occupational matters, children, and mental health
• Encourages a comparative study of the role medicine and health care played in world history
Joseph P. Byrne, PhD, is historian and professor of honors humanities at Belmont University, Nashville, TN. His published works include ABC-CLIO's The Black Death, Daily Life during the Black Death, The Encyclopedia of the Black Death, and Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues.
