Medicine in the Enlightenment / / Roy Porter.

• Superior document: Clio Medica ; 29
• TeilnehmendeR: Roy, Porter,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden;, Boston : : Brill | Rodopi,, 1995.
• Year of Publication: 1995
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Clio Medica ; 29.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.
• ISBN: 940120019X
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Roy Porter.

The interpretation of eighteenth-century medicine has been much contested. Some have view it as a wilderness of rationalism and arid theories between the Scientific Revolution and the astonishing changes of the nineteenth-century. Other scholars have emphasized the close and fruitful links between medicine and the Enlightenment, suggesting that medical advance was the very embodiment of the philosphes ’ ideal of a practical science that would improve mankind’s lot and foster human happiness. In a series of essays covering Great Britain, France, Germany and other parts of Europe, noted historians debate these issues through detailed examinations of major aspects of eighteenth-century medicine and medical controversy, including such topics as the introduction of smallpox inoculation, the transformation of medical education, and the treatment of the insane. The essays as a whole suggest a positive reading of the transformations in eighteenth-century medicine, while stressing local diversity and uneven development.