The History of Pain - Hardcover

Rey, Roselyne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674399676 ISBN 13: 9780674399679

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1995

Synopsis

This text draws on multidisciplinary sources to explore the universally shared experience of pain. From classical antiquity to the 20th century, it contrasts the different cultural perceptions of pain in each period, as well as the medical theories advanced to explain its mechanisms and the various therapeutic remedies formulated to relieve those suffering from it. This broad historical perspective highlights the transformation in humanity's relationship to pain, chronicles the progress made in its understanding and treatment and explores the little-understood areas that remain to this day.

About this title

Review

An intriguing analysis of the evolving influences of society and culture on pain thresholds throughout the ages. Roselyne Rey presents a detailed history of the medical treatment of pain from Antiquity to the 1950s. In brief sections on Egyptian, Greek, and Roman medical practice, on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, on the 'Classical Age' and the Enlightenment, the author runs through some 3,000 years of medical history, demonstrating the very ambiguous and frequently ambivalent attitude towards suffering held by medical parctitioners. -- Tim Hitchcock "Social History of Medicine" We know quite a bit about the development of certain pain relievers and have often heard the story of anaesthesia...but we know much less of the broader cultural history of pain. This historical gap is addressed by this splendid book...Dr. Rey has used pain as a key medical, biological, cultural and philosophical theme; she has fashioned a history of medicine around the concept of pain...She has undertaken a large task and carried it out with great success. To capture as much of our changing views of such a large topic as she has managed to do in a 350-page book is a considerable feat. -- Gert H. Brieger "Nature Medicine" This is an interesting and important study. The translation has been well done. -- Anthony Campbell "Journal of Consciousness Studies [UK]"

About the Author

Roselyne Rey was a research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris, specializing in the history of medicine and the life sciences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674399676
• ISBN 13: 9780674399679
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 398