The Atmosphere of Heaven
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The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and His Sons of Genius
Mike Jay
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Format: PaperPrice: $24.00
The stranger-than-fiction story of the Enlightenment visionaries who discovered the unexpected effects of inhaling nitrous oxide
At the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, England, founded in the closing years of the eighteenth century, dramatic experiments with gases precipitated not only a revolution in scientific medicine but also in the history of ideas. Guided by the energy of maverick doctor Thomas Beddoes, the institution was both laboratory and hospital—the first example of a modern medical research institution. But when its members discovered the mind-altering properties of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, their experiments devolved into a pioneering exploration of consciousness with far-reaching and unforeseen effects.
This riveting book is the first to tell the story of Dr. Beddoes and the brilliant circle who surrounded him: Erasmus Darwin, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey, who supported his ideas; James Watt, who designed and built his laboratory; Thomas Wedgwood, who funded it; and the dazzling young chemistry assistant, Humphry Davy, who identified nitrous oxide and tested it on himself, with spectacular results. Medical historian Mike Jay charts the chaotic rise and fall of the institution in this fast-paced account, and reveals its crucial influence—on modern drug culture, attitudes toward objective and subjective knowledge, the development of anesthetic surgery, and the birth of the Romantic movement.
Praise for Mike Jay’s The Air Loom Gang:
“The Air Loom Gang is a wonderful book to read. . . .beautifully written, with all the drama, the rich characterization, the subtlety, of a fine novel."—Oliver Sacks
"The pursuit of science in the evolution of culture does not get much more hair-raising than this. Mike Jay's The Atmosphere of Heaven has an uncanny ability to bring everything together through Dr Thomas Beddoes' experimental gases: hopes for the elimination of all disease, the politics of scientific research, the perpetual threat of political invasion, all in the tense period at the turn of the nineteenth century. This is history written as it should be." - George Rousseau, Oxford University, author, with Roy Porter, of Gout: The Patrician Malady
"Mike Jay's wonderfully sympathetic account is written vividly and with narrative flair. Bringing together medicine, chemistry, and politics, The Atmosphere of Heaven is a compelling read." - Trevor Levere
‘The book opens a window on a fascinating time in medical history.' — David Knight, Social History of Medicine Vol 23 No.1, April 2010
'A brilliantly researched book and written in a lively style.' — Sharon Ruston, Times Higher Education
Publication Date: November 2, 2010
24 b/w illus.
