Self-Experimenters: Sources for Study

(Hardback)

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Self-experimentation, the deliberate design and implementation of an experiment using the experimenter's own body, is more common than is generally known. In fact, as this captivating reference book shows, hundreds of individuals over the centuries have used themselves as guinea pigs to test a theory or to understand a disease. The author provides a detailed history of the practice through numerous dictionary-style entries on self-experimenters and their experiments. Each entry begins with biographical information about the experimenter and includes a brief narrative about the experiment, including its category, date and location, purpose, procedure, result, and significance. Medical history readers and researchers will find this book helpful both for its arrangement of data and for its indexing. The bibliographic references are a useful aid for those interested in further study. Offering easy access to a wide variety of biographical, scientific, and bibliographical information, Self-Experimentation: Sources for Study is a valuable reference work for those interested in historical and scientific research.

Author Bio

ARSEN P. FIKS, M.D., Ph.D., born, 1930, in Odessa, Russia; died, 2001, in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Fiks, a pathologist by study and training, held many prestigious medical and research positions in both the Soviet Union and the United States. He was an avid researcher in pathology, oncology, the history of science, and self-experimentation and contributed over a hundred articles to international medical journals. Of his many intellectual pursuits, he was especially keen to uncover and understand the devotion and accomplishments of self-experimenters. The breadth of this book partially reflects his avid interest. PAUL A. BUELOW, Ph.D., is a visiting assistant professor in the College of Education at Butler University, Indianapolis. He is a historian by training, and his dissertation explored the connection between medicine and medical charity in 19th-century Chicago. He has written on the history of hospitals for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Chicago History, and on the medical history of Chicago's Hull-House neighborhood for the University of Illinois at Chicago's Nearwest website project.