Leech

(Paperback)

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Description

In Leech, Robert G. W. Kirk and Neil Pemberton explore how this creature repeatedly surfaces throughout human history, featuring in radically different practices; from the humoral medicine of the ancients to twenty-first-century cosmetic surgery, from nineteenth-century meteorological barometer to twentieth-century biomedical tool that helped to win a Nobel Prize, the leech has been often present and always surprising. A horror and a healer, the leech has reared its head in many unexpected places and practices, revealing this creature to be among humanity's most enduring and peculiar companions.

Reviews

"Kirk and Pemberton are . . . fond of their subject . . . but they are particularly interested in its cultural symbolism. While there is plenty of solid science in this book, the most distinctive sections deal with the psychology of being bled, and our temerity for daring to equate the leech with all things nasty in ourselves."-- "Times Literary Supplement"
"This book shies away from the facile association of leeches with parasites to view them, instead, as a symbiotic relationship with humankind, whereby both man and leech have benefited from the creature's extraordinary abilities. This short but rich volume thus explores the leech as both animal and symbol, from ancient medical remedy to modern horror film, from emblem of capitalism to biomedical tool . . . Well illustrated and engagingly written . . . the authors ably tie their historical and cultural research to the natural history of the leech, offering an interesting perspective on the history of science." -- "British Journal for the History of Science"

Author Bio

Robert G. W. Kirk is Wellcome Research Fellow in the Centre for the History of Science Technology and Medicine, University of Manchester. Neil Pemberton is a Research Associate in the Centre for the History of Science Technology and Medicine, University of Manchester.