History of Science, Technology and Medicine: Books

The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology

Science, medicine, and technology have become increasingly important to the average individual in modern society. The importance of these three fields is in many ways one of the defining characteristics of modernity. Understanding their history is essential for educated individuals. Science, medicine, and technology are not static endeavors but processes, bodies of knowledge, tools, and techniques that are constantly growing and changing. The entries in this encyclopedia explore the changing character of science, medicine, and technology in the United States; the key individuals, institutions, and organizations responsible for major developments; and the concepts, practices, and processes underlying these changes. Especially since the early decades of the twentieth century, American science, medicine, and technology have played dominant roles internationally. Entries explore distinctive characteristics of American institutions and culture that help explain this development. At the same time, the encyclopedia situates specific events, theories, practices, and institutions in their proper historical context and explores their impact on American society and culture. Entries are written by the experts in the field. Students not only from the humanities and social sciences but also from the sciences and the medical sciences should be attracted to the broad-ranging and in-depth analysis in the encyclopedia (Provided by Publisher).

Histories of Health and Materiality in the Indian Ocean World

Introducing materiality into the study of the history of medicine, this volume hones in on communities across the Indian Ocean World and explores how they understood and engaged with health and medical commodities. Opening up spatial dimensions and challenging existing approaches to knowledge, power and the market, it defines 'therapeutic commodity' and explores how different materials were understood and engaged with in various settings and for a number of purposes. Offering new spatial realms within which the circulation of commodities created new regimes of meaning, Histories of Health and Materiality in the Indian Ocean World demonstrates how medicinal substances have had immediate and far-reaching economic and political consequences in various capacities. From midwifery and umbilical cords, to the social spaces of soap, perfumes in early modern India and remedies for leprosy, this volume considers a vast range of material culture in medicinal settings to better understand the history of medicine and its role in global connections since the early 17th century (Provided by Publisher).

This title was acquired through the Library's Order a Book service.

Technology and Medicine : Shaping Modern Healthcare

Taking a holistic approach, this book describes the developments in medicine and medical technology from ancient times to modern days. It is an exciting journey where readers will learn about the many great inventions by people that did not take the knowledge of their times as a fact. They challenged mysticism, beliefs, the religion, and the Church. They were true scientists long before we knew how to define what a scientist is. This book is, in a way, connecting the dots between the past and the future within healthcare. Features * Provides details on further developments that gave new and exceptional information for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes Gives the reader a new perspective and a common thread of life on medicine and MedTech as well as an improved understanding of how far we have come and how much there still is to work on before we fully understand the human body and its functionality Discusses and gives insight into ongoing research projects that could become clinically available in the future (Provided by Publisher).

Queer Anatomies: Aesthetics and Desire in the Anatomical Image, 1700-1900

Queer Anatomies explores overlooked examples of erotic expression within 18th and 19th-century anatomical imagery. It uncovers the subtle eroticism of certain anatomical illustrations, and the queerness of the men who made, used and collected them. As a foundational subject for physicians, surgeons and artists in 18th- and 19th-century Europe, anatomy was a privileged, male-dominated domain. Artistic and medical compe­tence depended on a deep knowledge of anatomy and offered cultural legitimacy, healing authority, and aesthetic discernment to those who practiced it. The anatomical image could serve as a virtual queer space, a private or shared closet, or a men's club. Serious anatomical subjects were charged with erotic, often homoerotic, undertones. With a range of close readings and com­par­ison of key images, this book unearths the connections between medical history, connoisseur­ship, queer studies, and art history and the understudied relationship between anatomy and desire.

(Provided by Publisher).

This title was acquired by the Library's Order a Book Service.

Medical Care, Humanitarianism and Intimacy in the Long Second World War, 1931-1953

This book explores underexamined sites of interactions and encounters between humanitarians and medical workers during the long Second World War (1931-1953).It traces circulations of humanitarian actors, knowledge, and practices across the world from a conflict to another. In doing so, it demonstrates that the conflict brought about unlikely aid coalitions and intimate networks of aid and led to a transformation of the relationships between some European organisations and colonial 'peripheries', leading to the emergence of new activities and actors. This book also interrogates the traditional dichotomy between civilian and military cultures of rehabilitation, and readdresses the role of the United States and its rise as a 'humanitarian superpower. (Provided by Publisher.)

Laure Humbert is a Senior Lecturer in Modern History and Bertrand Taithe is Professor of Cultural History at the University of Manchester.