Crossing Frontiers: Gerontology Emerges as a Science

Achenbaum, W. Andrew

ISBN 10: 0521481945 / ISBN 13: 9780521481946

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1995

About this Item

Light shelf wear to boards and dust jacket. Binding square and tight. No loose pages or creasing to spine. No highlighting, notation, or remainder marks. Stated first edition with full number line. Thank you for supporting Last Word Books and independent bookstores.

Seller Inventory # 210435457

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Crossing Frontiers: Gerontology Emerges as a Science
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521481945
• ISBN 13: 9780521481946
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Health

About this title

Synopsis

Although philosophers, physicians, and others have long pondered the meanings and experiences of growing older, gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. The study of aging borrows from a variety of other disciplines, including medicine, psychology, sociology and anthropology, but its own scientific basis is still developing. Despite dozens of aging-related journals, and a notable increase in state, regional, national and international networks, there are no widely shared techniques or distinctive methods. Theories of aging remain partial and tentative. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, Crossing Frontiers shows how old age became a 'problem' worth investigating and how a multidisciplinary orientation took shape. Gerontology is a marginal intellectual enterprise but its very strengths and weaknesses illuminate the politics of specialization and academic turf-fighting in U.S. higher education.

From the Back Cover

Although philosophers, physicians, and others have long pondered the meanings and experiences of growing older, gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. The study of aging borrows from a variety of other disciplines, including medicine, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, but its own scientific basis is still developing. Crossing Frontiers is the first book-length study of the history of gerontology. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, W. Andrew Achenbaum explores how old age became a "problem" worth investigating and how a multidisciplinary orientation took shape. Gerontology is a marginal intellectual enterprise but its very strengths and weaknesses illuminate the politics of specialization and academic turf-fighting in U.S. higher education.