Fiber, Medicine, and Culture in the British Enlightenment

This book provides a full account of the concept of fiber and fiber theory in eighteenth-century British medicine. It explores the pivotal role fiber played as a defining, underlying concept in anatomy, physiology, pathology, therapeutics, psychology, and the life sciences. With the gradual demise of ancient humoralism, the solid fibers appeared on the medical scene both as the basic building unit of the body and as a dynamic agent of life. As such, fiber stands at the heart of eighteenth-century medicine, both iatromechanism and iatro-vitalism. Touching on the cultural aspects of fiber, the Baroque, and the culture of sensibility, this book also challenges the widely held assumption that the eighteenth century was the age of the nerve and instead offers an alternative model of fiber.

Autorentext
Hisao Ishizuka is Professor in the Department of English at Senshu University, Japan. He is widely published in journals including Medical History, History of Science and Literature and Medicine.

Inhalt
Part 1: Prelude to the Fiber Body in the Latter Half of the Seventeenth Century, c.1650-1700.- Chapter 1: Visualizing the Fiber-Woven Body: Emergence of the Fiber Body.- Part 2: The Fiber Body in Eighteenth-Century MedicineChapter 2: Fiber Body in the Era of Iatromechanism, c.1700-1740s.- Chapter 3: Elasticity of Animal Fiber: Motion, Tone and Life of the Fiber Body.- Chapter 4: Continuity and Change: Fiber Body in the Era of Iatro-Vitalism, c.17501800.- Interlude: Fiber Psychology.- Part 3: Fiber and Culture.- Chapter 5: The Fiber Body and the Baroque: The Anatomy of Membranes and Folds.- Chapter 6: The Fiber Body and the Culture of Sensibility: From Nervous Man to Fiber Man.