The practice of medicine has advanced dramatically in recent years, but the language used to discuss illness - by medical practitioners, patients and caregivers - has not kept pace. As a result, clinicians and, just as importantly, patients and their relatives and caregivers, are not able to communicate clearly in relation to illness. The upshot is misunderstanding and confusion on all sides. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Fergus Shanahan, an eminent gastroenterologist who has practiced in Ireland, the United States and Canada, and published widely around the world, looks at memoirs of illness, and outlines the lessons we can learn from a better understanding of the words we use to describe illness. He looks at the ways in which language can act as a barrier with regard to illness, and proposes practical ways in which we can dismantle these barriers. The book is written for the general reader: as Dr. Shanahan puts it himself, he is “enough of an expert to be wary of experts." The Language of Illness, part manifesto, part memoir, and part instruction manual, is an appeal for the use of clearer, more holistic language, by all those involved with, and affected by, illness. Like the great American poet-doctor William Carlos Williams, he aims to help us develop a new language by means of which we can develop a new way of living with illness - which is an integral part of the human condition. Put simply, it is a book for all those who care about caring.

Sir Oliver Lodge was a polymathic scientific figure who linked the Victorian Age with the Second World War, a reassuring figure of continuity across his long life and career. A physicist and spiritualist, inventor and educator, author and authority, he was one of the most famous public figures of British science in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A pioneer in the invention of wireless communication and later of radio broadcasting, he was foundational for twentieth-century media technology and a tireless communicator who wrote upon and debated many of the pressing interests of the day in the sciences and far beyond. Yet since his death, Lodge has been marginalized. By uncovering the many aspects of his life and career, and the changing dynamics of scientific authority in an era of specialization, contributors to this volume reveal how figures like Lodge fell out of view as technical experts came to dominate the public understanding of science in the second half of the twentieth century. They account for why he was so greatly cherished by many of his contemporaries, examine the reasons for his eclipse, and consider what Lodge, a century on, might teach us about taking a more integrated approach to key scientific controversies of the day.

Radiation Evangelists explores x-ray and radium therapy in the United States and Great Britain during a crucial period of its development, from 1896 to 1925. It focuses on the pioneering work of early advocates in the field, the “radiation evangelists” who, motivated by their faith in a new technology, trust in new energy sources, and hope for future breakthroughs, turned a blind eye to the dangers of radiation exposure. Although ionizing radiation effectively treated diseases like skin infections and cancers, radiation therapists - who did not need a medical education to develop or administer procedures or sell tonics containing radium - operated in a space of uncertainty about exactly how radiation worked or would affect human bodies. And yet radium, once a specialized medical treatment, would eventually become a consumer health product associated with the antibacterial properties of sunlight.

As global temperatures rise under the forcing hand of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, new questions are being asked of how societies make sense of their weather, of the cultural values, which are afforded to climate, and of how environmental futures are imagined, feared, predicted, and remade. Weather, Climate, and Geographical Imagination contributes to this conversation by bringing together a range of voices from history of science, historical geography, and environmental history, each speaking to a set of questions about the role of space and place in the production, circulation, reception, and application of knowledges about weather and climate. The volume develops the concept of “geographical imagination” to address the intersecting forces of scientific knowledge, cultural politics, bodily experience, and spatial imaginaries, which shape the history of knowledges about climate.

People suffering from dementia need continued high-quality health care from diagnosis until the end of life. Stable relationships and wellness are the prerequisites for quality of life. In countries like Australia, this is the era of chronic illness of which dementia is the epitome. The seeming epidemic of dementia comes with the ageing of the population, which was predictable for generations and for which successive governments failed to prepare. What now passes for aged care in Australia is a travesty where the glowing reform rhetoric obfuscates the grim reality.

Itineraries of Expertise contends that experts and expertise played fundamental roles in the Latin American Cold War. While traditional Cold War histories of the region have examined diplomatic, intelligence, and military operations and more recent studies have probed the cultural dimensions of the conflict, the experts who constitute the focus of this volume escaped these categories. Although they often portrayed themselves as removed from politics, their work contributed to the key geopolitical agendas of the day. The paths traveled by the experts in this volume not only traversed Latin America and connected Latin America to the Global North, they also stretch traditional chronologies of the Latin American Cold War to show how local experts in the early twentieth century laid the foundation for post–World War II development projects, and how Cold War knowledge of science, technology, and the environment continues to impact our world today. These essays unite environmental history and the history of science and technology to argue for the importance of expertise in the Latin American Cold War.

Industrialisation is a notoriously complex issue in terms of the hazards and benefits it has brought to human beings in our endeavours to improve our lives. This is never more evident than in the field of health and medicine, where there are many questions about the causes and treatments of diseases we commonly encounter today, such as cancer, diabetes and degenerative age-related conditions. Are there genetic predispositions to these conditions? Are they a mirror of our modern lives driven by our fast-paced lifestyles or have they always existed but gone undetected? The archive of human skeletal remains at the Museum of London provides a large bank of evidence that has been explored here, along with other skeletal collections from around England, to investigate how far some of these diseases go back in time and what we can tell about the influence of living environments past and present on human health. The Industrial Period was a key period in human history where substantial change occurred to the population’s lifestyles, in terms of occupations, housing and diet as well as leisurely past-times, all of which would have impacted on their health. London had become the most densely populated metropolis in the world, the beating heart of trade and consumerism, an unambiguous example of the urban experience in the Industrial age. Using up-to-date medical imaging technologies in addition to osteoarchaeological examination of human skeletal remains, we have been able to establish the presence of modern day diseases in individuals living in the past, both before and during Industrialisation, to compare to rates in UK populations today. By re-examining the skeletal evidence, we have traced how the perils of unregulated rural and urban lives, changing food consumption, transport, technologies as well as improving medical treatment and life expectancy, have all altered health patterns over time.

Adolphe Quetelet was an influential astronomer and statistician whose controversial work inspired heated debate in European and American intellectual circles. In creating a science designed to explain the “average man,” he helped contribute to the idea of normal, most enduringly in his creation of the Quetelet Index, which came to be known as the Body Mass Index. Kevin Donnelly presents the first scholarly biography of Quetelet, exploring his contribution to quantitative reasoning, his place in nineteenth-century intellectual history, and his profound influence on the modern idea of average.

The Life and Legend of James Wattoffers a deeper understanding of the work and character of the great eighteenth-century engineer. Stripping away layers of legend built over generations, David Philip Miller finds behind the heroic engineer a conflicted man often diffident about his achievements but also ruthless in protecting his inventions and ideas, and determined in pursuit of money and fame. A skilled and creative engineer, Watt was also a compulsive experimentalist drawn to natural philosophical inquiry, and a chemistry of heat underlay much of his work, including his steam engineering. But Watt pursued the business of natural philosophy in a way characteristic of his roots in the Scottish “improving” tradition that was in tension with Enlightenment sensibilities. As Miller demonstrates, Watt’s accomplishments relied heavily on collaborations, not always acknowledged, with business partners, employees, philosophical friends, and, not least, his wives, children, and wider family. The legend created in his later years and “afterlife” claimed too much of nineteenth-century technology for Watt, but that legend was, and remains, a powerful cultural force.

Much like the Information Age of the twenty-first century, the Industrial Age was a period of great social changes brought about by rapid industrialization and urbanization, speed of travel, and global communications. The literature, medicine, science, and popular journalism of the nineteenth century attempted to diagnose problems of the mind and body that such drastic transformations were thought to generate: a range of conditions or “diseases of modernity” resulting from specific changes in the social and physical environment. The alarmist rhetoric of newspapers and popular periodicals, advertising various “neurotic remedies,” in turn inspired a new class of physicians and quack medical practices devoted to the treatment and perpetuation of such conditions. Anxious Times examines perceptions of the pressures of modern life and their impact on bodily and mental health in nineteenth-century Britain. The authors explore anxieties stemming from the potentially harmful impact of new technologies, changing work and leisure practices, and evolving cultural pressures and expectations within rapidly changing external environments. Their work reveals how an earlier age confronted the challenges of seemingly unprecedented change, and diagnosed transformations in both the culture of the era and the life of the mind.

In the fourth part of The Schliemann Diaries we follow Heinrich Schliemann, the famous 19th century trader, traveller and archaeologist, on his travels through Spain in 1859. The original diary was written mainly in Spanish with a small portion in Arabic. This publication contains an introduction, an English translation and a transcription of the diary. During his third journey to the Orient (1858-1859), Schliemann fell in love with a Canadian girl. Since he was already married, this love was doomed from the start but it made Schliemann far from happy when he returned home to St. Petersburg. He found it impossible to remain with his Russian wife and decided to cheer himself up by taking a trip through Spain.In this diary we see Spain through the eyes of a wealthy tourist who is not afraid of some discomfort. Alongside some melancholy thoughts about his hopeless love for the young Canadian, he keeps his eyes wide open for the attractions of the Spanish girls who are, according to him, the most beautiful in the world.Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) was a shrewd trader and in later life one of the most famous archaeologist of the 19th century. He not only discovered "the legendary city of Troy" and the golden masks of Mycenae, but was also a pioneer in the prehistoric archaeology of Turkey and Greece. Before he became one of the fathers of Archaeology, he travelled the world and recorded his experiences in several diaries. In this series, all Schliemann's travel diaries will be made available to a wider public by means of a transcription, an English translation and an introduction. These publications will present a new image of the trader, traveller and archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann and the world in which he lived.

Climate change is the greatest challenge of our generation - we hear it all the time. It has almost become a refrain. But do we really believe it? What if we were to let those words settle a little, penetrate minds and hearts deeply, and accept their troubling, terrifying truth? What if we were to understand that climate change isn't something far away out there in space and time, but something that affects us here and now? In Climate Generation: Awakening to Our Children's Future, Lorna Gold shares her personal journey in understanding what those two words 'climate change' mean for her as a mother seeking to protect her children and, by extension, the world of which we are all a part. Climate change is a real danger, which risks destroying our Children's future. This book tells the story of how one mother was awakened to this reality and how it changed her life. From fearing she could do nothing, she found herself catapulted into a big adventure. She discovered people from all walks of life who care about their children's futures and who are doing amazing things to make these voices heard. ADVANCE PRAISE "Lorna Gold has given all of herself to this small book. She takes us on an anguished, unflinching journey into the heart of the climate crisis, and emerges emboldened - with a radical, utterly convincing hope that we can spring into action to protect the future of everything, and everyone, we love most." Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism Vs. the Climate "We need more narratives on climate change so that people are encouraged to make it a personal issue in their lives. This compelling personal story of a mother and activist makes that emotional connection very well, as she wakes up to the danger her children are in and connects the dots on how to safeguard their future." Mary Robinson, President, Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice "Written by one of the planet’s most stalwart and successful climate fighters, this is a truly necessary book. If you’ve ever wondered how you could dig in and make a real difference on the greatest problem the planet faces, wonder no longer. Just read." Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

Blue-green algae (also known as cyanobacteria) and the toxins they can produce pose serious economic, environmental, and public health problems worldwide. Much of the scientific and public interest in these microorganisms arises from their tendency to undergo explosive population growth and form harmful blooms, which have inflicted damage in industries as diverse as health care, public utilities, agriculture, recreation, real estate, and commercial and sport fishing. Until now, water quality professionals and other individuals tasked with finding and eliminating cyanotoxins have lacked an accessible guide to these potentially deadly microorganisms. Written for nonspecialists in a clear and straightforward style, this guide will help students, landowners, and citizen scientists identify different kinds of cyanobacteria and understand their impact on waterways, from neighborhood lakes and farm ponds to major river systems. The central feature of the book is a detailed key that systematically walks the reader through each step of the identification process. This key is linked to an extensive set of photographs and a companion smartphone app to assist readers in confirming their findings.Authors Mark A. Nienaber and Miriam Steinitz-Kannan include an ample glossary to help newcomers to the subject get up to speed as well as an in-depth and current bibliography to aid advanced readers in further research. They also offer instructions on how to correctly collect and analyze cyanobacteria. Altogether, this accessible yet comprehensive resource makes important, complex material available to a wide range of professionals and laypeople engaged in combating harmful cyanotoxins.

Demographic change is a defining issue of our time. The worldwide population is aging and countries are facing ongoing challenges in caring for their elderly. Will countries be able to overcome these challenges? Aging with Dignity provides a robust account of best practices in long-term care. Based on a series of interviews conducted by ACCESS Health International with elder care professionals in Sweden, the book offers innovative solutions to the universal challenge of aging.

In November 1942, Paul Andrew Kennedy (1912--1993) boarded the St. Elena in New York Harbor and sailed for Casablanca as part of Operation Torch, the massive Allied invasion of North Africa. As a member of the US Army's 2nd Auxiliary Surgical Group, he spent the next thirty-four months working in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany, in close proximity to the front lines and often under air or artillery bombardment. He was uncomfortable, struck by the sorrows of war, and homesick for his wife, for whom he kept detailed diaries to ease his unrelenting loneliness.In Battlefield Surgeon , Kennedy's son Christopher has edited his father's journals and provided historical context to produce an invaluable personal chronicle. What emerges is a vivid record of the experiences of a medical officer in the European theater of operations in World War II. Kennedy participated in some of the fiercest action of the war, including Operation Avalanche, the attack on Anzio, and Operation Dragoon. He also arrived in Rome the day after the Allied troops, and entered the Dachau concentration camp two days after it was liberated.Despite the enormous success of the popular MAS*H franchise, there are still surprisingly few authentic accounts of military doctors and medical practice during wartime. As a young, inexperienced surgeon, Kennedy grappled with cases much more serious and complex than he had ever faced in civilian practice. Featuring a foreword by Pulitzer Prize--winning World War II historian Rick Atkinson and an afterword by U.S. Army medical historian John T. Greenwood, this remarkable firsthand account offers an essential perspective on the Second World War.

In the mid-fourteenth century the Black Death ravaged Europe, leading to dramatic population drop and social upheavals. Recurring plague outbreaks together with social factors pushed Europe into a deep crisis that lasted for more than a century. The plague and the crisis, and in particular their short-term and long-term consequences for society, have been the matter of continuous debate. Most of the research so far has been based on the study of written sources, and the dominating perspective has been the one of economic history. A different approach is presented here by using evidence and techniques from archaeology and the natural sciences. Special focus is on environmental and social changes in the wake of the Black Death. Pollen and tree-ring data are used to gain new insights into farm abandonment and agricultural change, and to point to the important environmental and ecological consequences of the crisis. The archaeological record shows that the crisis was not only characterised by abandonment and decline, but also how families and households survived by swiftly developing new strategies during these uncertain times. Finally, stature and isotope studies are applied to human skeletons from medieval churchyards to reveal changes in health and living conditions during the crisis. The conclusions are put in wider perspective that highlights the close relationship between society and the environment and the historical importance of past epidemics.