Romance, Poetry, and Surgical Sleep: Literature Influences Medicine

by E M Papper

Overview

Pain and suffering, once associated with punishment for sin, became regarded as a purposeless evil that was hostile to human welfare. The works of Thomas Beddoes, Coleridge, and Shelley embody the change in attitude toward suffering and lay the groundwork for the general use of anesthesia in modern medicine. Papper contends that there was no real societal readiness to treat or prevent pain until the idea of the worth of the common man or woman was established by the upheaval of the French Revolution. The humanitarian concepts that we take for granted were relatively recent developments in Western society and were associated with the recognition of the importance of the individual.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313294051
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/19/1995
Series:	Contributions in Medical Studies , #42
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)
Lexile:	1480L (what's this?)

About the Author

E. M. PAPPER is Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology at the University of Miami School of Medicine where he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine until 1981. He is the author of hundreds of publications and is one of the legends of American anesthesiology.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Sherwin B. Nuland
An Anesthesiologist's Attempts to Understand Pain and Suffering as a Medical-Literary Conglomerate
The Discovery of Anesthesia—An Outgrowth of an Understanding about the Prevention of Pain and Suffering
Thomas Beddoes, Sr., Physician and Philosopher
The Importance of Bristol as a Site for the Pneumatic Institute: Beddoes and Bristol
The Recruitment of Scientists, Writers, and Experimenters for the Pneumatic Institute
Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Pain and Suffering as Experience
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Commentary and Summary
Epilogue
Supplementary Reading

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Jeffrey L. Apfelbaum, MD (University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine)
Description: The author writes about the intersections of important developments in medicine, pain, and suffering and about the development of anesthesia. He reviews the nonmedical literature that reflects societal readiness to accept and develop these medical advances.
Purpose: The author tells the tale of how a traditionally educated physician with a specialty in anesthesiology (and therefore, with considerable knowledge and expertise about pain, suffering, and the prevention of pain resulting from surgical procedures and chronic disease processes) could become absorbed in a process that leads from thinking of pain "as no more than an electrical impulse speeding along the nerve" to "an overview of the many influences that affect pain." Such influences include the literary arts as well as religious, social, political, and scientific forces that molded the evolution of the human race in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
Audience: This book is intended for anyone with an interest in the development of the field of anesthesiology, including students, trainees, practitioners, and lay people. As one of the founding fathers of modern anesthesia, Dr. Papper is a well-respected authority in his field.
Features: Although the book is devoid of illustrations, the table of contents and index are more than adequate in helping to direct the reader to better accomplish his or her goals. From a historical perspective, the references are quite extensive and in some cases date back to the 16th century.
Assessment: This book serves to provide an explanation of the interconnections and intersections of many trends, forces, and disciplines that on the surface apparently have little to do with each other but, in reality, are very much intertwined. It is extraordinarily well written and combines the best in English literary scholarship with the finest in the theoretics of detective work and the history of anesthesiology. It is a book that will have an enduring significance as a lucid and enchanting narrative.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

The author writes about the intersections of important developments in medicine, pain, and suffering and about the development of anesthesia. He reviews the nonmedical literature that reflects societal readiness to accept and develop these medical advances. The author tells the tale of how a traditionally educated physician with a specialty in anesthesiology (and therefore, with considerable knowledge and expertise about pain, suffering, and the prevention of pain resulting from surgical procedures and chronic disease processes) could become absorbed in a process that leads from thinking of pain ^^as no more than an electrical impulse speeding along the nerve^^ to ^^an overview of the many influences that affect pain.^^ Such influences include the literary arts as well as religious, social, political, and scientific forces that molded the evolution of the human race in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries." This book is intended for anyone with an interest in the development of the field of anesthesiology, including students, trainees, practitioners, and lay people. As one of the founding fathers of modern anesthesia, Dr. Papper is a well-respected authority in his field. Although the book is devoid of illustrations, the table of contents and index are more than adequate in helping to direct the reader to better accomplish his or her goals. From a historical perspective, the references are quite extensive and in some cases date back to the 16th century. This book serves to provide an explanation of the interconnections and intersections of many trends, forces, and disciplines that on the surface apparently have little to do with each other but, in reality, are very much intertwined.It is extraordinarily well written and combines the best in English literary scholarship with the finest in the theoretics of detective work and the history of anesthesiology. It is a book that will have an enduring significance as a lucid and enchanting narrative.

Jeffrey L. Apfelbaum

Papper (anesthesiology and pharmacology, U. of Miami School of Medicine) combines English literary scholarship with detective work in medical history in his reflections on the intersections of pain, suffering, and the development of anesthesia, and the nonmedical literature that demonstrated societal readiness to accept and develop medical advances in anesthesia. He discusses the life and work of Thomas Beddoes and the Pneumatic Institute, and the writings of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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