The Falling Sickness: A History of Epilepsy from the Greeks to the Beginnings of Modern Neurology

"A thoroughly admirable and informative introduction to our knowledge of epilepsy in the Western world from antiquity to the early twentieth century." - American Scientist Owsei Temkin presents the history of epilepsy in Western civilization from ancient times to the beginnings of modern neurology. First published in 1945 and thoroughly revised in 1971, this classic work by one of the history of medicine's most eminent scholars now returns to print available in both paperback and eBook formats.

Table of Contents:
Preface to Second Edition Preface to First Edition Part I: Antiquity Chapter 1. Epilepsy: The Sacred Disease Chapter 2. Epilepsy in Ancient Medical Science Part II: The Middle Ages Chapter 3. Epilepsy: The Falling Sickness Chapter 4. Medieval Medical Theories Part III: The Renaissance Chapter 5. Theological, Philosophical, and Social Aspects Chapter 6. Broadening Experience and Changing Theory Part IV: The Great Systems and the Period of Enlightenment Chapter 7. The Great Systems Chapter 8. The Enlightenment Part V: The Nineteenth Century (1800–1861) Chapter 9. First Period: 1800–1833 Chapter 10. Second Period: 1833–1861 Part VI: The Nineteenth Century – The Age of Hughlings Jackson Chapter 11. Jackson's Forerunners Chapter 12. John Hughlings Jackson Chapter 13. The End of the Falling Sickness? Epilogue Appendix I Appendix II Bibliography Index of Personal Names Index of Subjects

About the Author :
Owsei Temkin, M.D. (1902–2002), was William H. Welch Professor of the History of Medicine and director of the Institute of the History of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University. He was also the author of Soranus' Gynecology (translation), and Hippocrates in a World of Pagans and Christians.

Review :
A JAMA reviewer hailed the 1945 first edition of The Falling Sickness as a reference work with 'no historical rival' which 'occupies a separate shelf in the reviewer's Library of Fame.' A revised second edition, published in 1971, increased the bibliography from a hefty 706 references to a weighty 1120. The number of footnotes, many in French, Latin, or Greek, multiplied from 1721 to 2073! The review of the second edition deemed Tempkin's intensely researched and well-organized historical work 'magnificient' . . . [The 1994 publication is] a facinating study of the history of one of the world's most intriguing maladies. —Andrew N. WilnerM.D, Journal of the American Medical Association The definitive account . . . Detailed, meticulous, and accurate . . . A thoroughly admirable and informative introduction to our knowledge of epilepsy in the Western world from antiquity to the early twentieth century. —American Scientist