| Crossing Frontiers: Gerontology Emerges as a Science Contributor(s): Achenbaum, W. Andrew (Author) |
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ISBN: 0521481945 ISBN-13: 9780521481946 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $90.24 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 1995 Annotation: Although philosophers, physicians, and others have long pondered the meanings and experiences of growing older, gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. The study of aging borrows from a variety of other disciplines, including medicine, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, but its own scientific basis is still developing. Crossing Frontiers is the first book-length study of the history of gerontology. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, W. Andrew Achenbaum explores how old age became a "problem" worth investigating and how a multidisciplinary orientation took shape. Gerontology is a marginal intellectual enterprise but its very strengths and weaknesses illuminate the politics of specialization and academic turf-fighting in U.S. higher education. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Gerontology - Science | History - Medical | History |
| Dewey: 305.26 |
| LCCN: 94047972 |
| Physical Information: 0.95" H x 6.34" W x 9.39" (1.29 lbs) 296 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, Crossing Frontiers shows how old age became a problem worth investigating and how a multidisciplinary orientation took shape. Gerontology remains a marginal intellectual enterprise, but its very strengths and weaknesses illuminate the politics of specialization and academic turf-fighting in U.S. higher education. |