Book ID: CBB204540027

Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds: Science and the Yellow Fever Controversy in the Early American Republic (2016)

unapi

Apel, Thomas (Author)


Stanford University Press


Publication Date: 2016
Physical Details: 204 pages
Language: English

From 1793 to 1805, yellow fever devastated U.S. port cities in a series of terrifying epidemics. The search for the cause and prevention of the disease involved many prominent American intellectuals, including Noah Webster and Benjamin Rush. This investigation produced one of the most substantial and innovative outpourings of scientific thought in early American history. But it also led to a heated and divisive debate—both political and theological—around the place of science in American society. Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds opens an important window onto the conduct of scientific inquiry in the early American republic. The debate between "contagionists," who thought the disease was imported, and "localists," who thought it came from domestic sources, reflected contemporary beliefs about God and creation, the capacities of the human mind, and even the appropriate direction of the new nation. Through this thoughtful investigation of the yellow fever epidemic and engaging examination of natural science in early America, Thomas Apel demonstrates that the scientific imaginations of early republicans were far broader than historians have realized: in order to understand their science, we must understand their ideas about God.

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Reviewed By

Review Owen Whooley (2017) Review of "Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds: Science and the Yellow Fever Controversy in the Early American Republic". American Historical Review (p. 833). unapi

Review Michael A. Osborne (2018) Review of "Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds: Science and the Yellow Fever Controversy in the Early American Republic". Science and Education (pp. 237-238). unapi

Review David S. Barnes (2017) Review of "Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds: Science and the Yellow Fever Controversy in the Early American Republic". Bulletin of the History of Medicine (pp. 447-449). unapi

Review Christopher Willoughby (2017) Review of "Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds: Science and the Yellow Fever Controversy in the Early American Republic". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (pp. 500-502). unapi

Review Rebecca J. Tannenbaum (2017) Review of "Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds: Science and the Yellow Fever Controversy in the Early American Republic". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 449-450). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB204540027/

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Authors & Contributors
Espinosa, Mariola
Morgan, David
Sukumar P. Desai
Stuart Mathieson
Warden, Paul Michael
Howell, Christopher
Concepts
Yellow fever
Public health
Controversies and disputes
Science and religion
Epidemics
Evolution
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century, early
20th century
21st century
20th century, late
Places
United States
Cuba
New Orleans (Louisiana, U.S.)
Philadelphia, PA
Southern states (U.S.)
Connecticut (U.S.)
Institutions
Victoria Institute
United States. Public Health Service
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