Introduction: Experior; 1. Darwin's compromise; 2. Medical monsters? 3. Of laboratories and legislatures; 4. Paget's public; 5. Cannon fire; Epilogue: Humanity and human experimentation.
Rob Boddice explores the transnational defence of medical experimentation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Rob Boddice is currently a senior research fellow at the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in the History of Experiences, Tampere University, Finland. He is an internationally renowned scholar in the histories of emotions, science and medicine. His previous volumes include The Science of Sympathy (2016), Pain: A Very Short Introduction (2017), The History of Emotions (2018) and A History of Feelings (2019). This is his tenth book.
'Humane Professions is an absorbing, and vitally important, account
of the response of medical scientists from 1876 to 1914 to the
anti-vivisection movement's demand for legal
regulation. Boddice has pulled back the curtain on the
development of an internationally networked defence of experimental
science for the lay public based on depicting the medical
researcher as a heroic humanitarian.' Bernard Lightman, York
University
'Humane Professions is a rich and perceptive account of
experimental priorities in medical science that refuses to take for
granted the stakes of scientific knowledge and its production for
actors inside and outside professional circles. Boddice shows how,
at its core, the story of making knowledge is a story of claiming
humanness.' Todd Meyers, McGill University
'… a compelling account … Well-written and meticulously researched
… Historians … will find Humane Professions a very valuable
addition to the historiography.' Karen Ross, Social History of
Medicine
'Boddice's book is a welcome addition to the literature of the
history of physiology, experimental medicine, biomedical research,
and-most of all-the antivivisection movement. It provides valuable
insight into a dynamic period when medical science was transformed
from a largely solitary, self-funded activity into an international
enterprise deemed worthy of philanthropic and government support.
The book is well written.' W. Bruce Fye, Bulletin of the History of
Medicine
'Boddice's depth of research is impressive … Humane Professions is
a book that should be carefully considered by historians of
medicine and biological science focused on the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries' Sarah E. Naramore, Isis
'The book is well grounded in the relevant historiography and
driven by key archvies … the book is at its strongest as a cultural
history tracking the origins and circulation of motifs, messages
and homilies.' Peter Hobbins, Canadian Journal of Health
History
'Boddice closely and systematically reconstructs how the
information network of British and American scientists was
ultimately able to shift public opinion, not through dry academic
research and statistics but through 'emotional labor' - the use of
personal stories and sentimental experiences. Although most
previous studies of the history of animal experimentation have
focused on the voices of anti-vivisectionists, this book also
presents the conflict from medical scientists' point of view,
allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of how the
controversies originated.' Pamela Lee, Journal of Interdisciplinary
History
'This is a book written with micro-surgical precision resulting in
a high efficacy … In other words, a book that transcends the
boundaries of space and time.' Alain Touwaide, Doody's Reviews
'A major strength of the book lies in its multinational
perspective. … Furthermore, the book provides a good example of the
ways in which biomedical scientists strive to gain political power
and public support about contentious issues.' Shira Shmuely,
Journal of the History of Biology
'Boddice provides a detailed account of the myriad strategies -
legislative, representational, political, and rhetorical - medical
professionals and biomedical researchers employed in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to protect their right to
use experimental animals in any manner they deemed appropriate.' D.
A. Brass, Choice
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