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.

The Atmosphere of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and His Sons of Genius

Biographies & Memoirs

Jay, Mike

Professionals & Academics

Yale University Press

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.

A definitive history of mescaline that explores its mind-altering effects across cultures, from ancient America to Western modernity Mescaline became a popular sensation in the mid-twentieth century through Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, after which the word “psychedelic” was coined to describe it. Its story, however, extends deep into prehistory: the earliest Andean cultures depicted mescaline-containing cacti in their temples. Mescaline was isolated in 1897 from the peyote cactus, first encountered by Europeans during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. During the twentieth century it was used by psychologists investigating the secrets of consciousness, spiritual seekers from Aleister Crowley to the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, artists exploring the creative process, and psychiatrists looking to cure schizophrenia. Meanwhile peyote played a vital role in preserving and shaping Native American identity. Drawing on botany, pharmacology, ethnography, and the mind sciences and examining the mescaline experiences of figures from William James to Walter Benjamin to Hunter S. Thompson, this is an enthralling narrative of mescaline’s many lives.

Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Mental Health

Product Description 
A definitive history of mescaline that explores its mind-altering effects across cultures, from ancient America to Western modernity\nMescaline became a popular sensation in the mid-twentieth century through Aldous Huxley’s 
The Doors of Perception, after which the word “psychedelic” was coined to describe it. Its story, however, extends deep into prehistory: the earliest Andean cultures depicted mescaline-containing cacti in their temples.\nMescaline was isolated in 1897 from the peyote cactus, first encountered by Europeans during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. During the twentieth century it was used by psychologists investigating the secrets of consciousness, spiritual seekers from Aleister Crowley to the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, artists exploring the creative process, and psychiatrists looking to cure schizophrenia. Meanwhile peyote played a vital role in preserving and shaping Native American identity. Drawing on botany, pharmacology, ethnography, and the mind sciences and examining the mescaline experiences of figures from William James to Walter Benjamin to Hunter S. Thompson, this is an enthralling narrative of mescaline’s many lives. 
 Review 
“Mike Jay is an eminent writer on mind-stilling and mind-expanding substances [. . .] 
Mescaline reads like the culmination of a lifetime’s wanderings in the very farthest out-posts of scientific and medical history”— Ian Sansom, 
The Guardian 
“Mike Jay’s history of mescaline use is a bit of a mind-altering experience itself”— 
The Economist 
"This is a terrific account of mescaline, the first psychedelic. Mike Jay has nailed it."—Michael Pollan, author of 
How to Change Your Mind\n"Mike Jay is the Neil Armstrong of today's psychonauts. In Mescaline an incredible amount of scholarly and personal research is beautifully presented and ordered in a sensible chronology that really works to channel potentially disruptive and mad matter into a fascinating cultural history. I just Ioved the last chapter which brought everything back to its proper place in a careful Native American ritual. It made the most emotionally satisfying ending to an extraordinary trip..." —Nicholas Rankin, author of 
Telegram from Guernica \n'Mike Jay is one of the most wise, well-informed, clever and funny voices on drugs in the world. Everyone should read everything he writes - it is consistently brilliant'—Johann Hari, author of 
Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections\nAbout the Author 
Mike Jay has written extensively on scientific and medical history. His books on the history of drugs include 
High Society: Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture and 
The Atmosphere of Heaven. He lives in London.

Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind

A provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind &nbsp; "Captivating. . . . A welcome reconsideration of the role drugs play in life, medicine, and science."--Publishers Weekly &nbsp; Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves. Vivid descriptions of drug experiences sparked insights across the mind sciences, pharmacology, medicine, and philosophy. Accounts in journals and literary fiction inspired a fascinated public to make their own experiments--in scientific demonstrations, on exotic travels, at literary salons, and in occult rituals. &nbsp; But after 1900 drugs were increasingly viewed as a social problem, and the long tradition of self-experimentation began to disappear. &nbsp; From Sigmund Freud's experiments with cocaine to William James's epiphany on nitrous oxide, Mike Jay brilliantly recovers a lost intellectual tradition of drug-taking that fed the birth of psychology, the discovery of the unconscious, and the emergence of modernism. Today, as we embrace novel cognitive enhancers and psychedelics, the experiments of the original psychonauts reveal the deep influence of mind-altering drugs on Western science, philosophy, and culture.

"Fascinating."--Thomas W. Hodgkinson, The Guardian "Richly detailed and frequently illuminating."--Rhys Blakely, Times (UK) &nbsp; "Excellent."--Clare Bucknell, New Yorker A New Yorker Best of the Week Pick A provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind &nbsp; Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves. Vivid descriptions of drug experiences sparked insights across the mind sciences, pharmacology, medicine, and philosophy. Accounts in journals and literary fiction inspired a fascinated public to make their own experiments--in scientific demonstrations, on exotic travels, at literary salons, and in occult rituals. &nbsp; But after 1900 drugs were increasingly viewed as a social problem, and the long tradition of self-experimentation began to disappear. &nbsp; From Sigmund Freud's experiments with cocaine to William James's epiphany on nitrous oxide, Mike Jay brilliantly recovers a lost intellectual tradition of drug-taking that fed the birth of psychology, the discovery of the unconscious, and the emergence of modernism. Today, as we embrace novel cognitive enhancers and psychedelics, the experiments of the original psychonauts reveal the deep influence of mind-altering drugs on Western science, philosophy, and culture.

High Society: Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture

"High Society" explores the spectrum of drug use across the globe and throughout history, from its roots in animal intoxication to its future in designer neurochemicals. Designed to accompany the 2010 Wellcome Collection exhibition, and beautifully illustrated with rarely seen material from the museums collections, this striking, lyrical book puts its controversial subject into the widest possible context.

High Society - Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture (Hardback) /anglais

Thames&Hudson

High Society : Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture (B-Format) /anglais

A compelling and evocatively illustrated exploration of the evolution of the asylum, and its role in society over the course of four centuries
This Way Madness Lies is a thought-provoking exploration of the history of madness and its treatment as seen through the lens of its proverbial home: Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, popularly known as Bedlam. The book charts the evolution of the asylum through four incarnations: the eighteenth-century madhouse, the nineteenth century asylum, the twentieth-century mental hospital, and the post-asylum modern day, when mental health has become the concern of the wider community. The book reveals the role that the history of madness and its treatment has played in creating the landscape of the asylum, in all its iterations.
Moving and sometimes provocative illustrations sourced from the Wellcome Collection's extensive archives and the Bethlem Royal Hospital's archive highlight the trajectory of each successive era of institution: founded in the optimistic spirit of humanitarian reform but eventually dismantled amid accusations of cruelty and neglect. Each chapter concludes with a selection of revealing and captivating artwork created by some of the inmates of the institutions of that era.
This Way Madness Lies highlights fundamental questions that remain relevant and unresolved: What lies at the root of mental illness? Should sufferers be segregated from society or integrated more fully? And in today’s post-asylum society, what does the future hold for a world beyond Bedlam? 350+ illustrations in color and black-and-white

This Way Madness Lies

History

Europe

The story of Edward Despard, a celebrated and decorated British infantry officer executed as a traitor in 1803 for plotting to establish a republic, is a window into a remarkable period of British history; a time when democracy was undergoing its birth pangs.

The Unfortunate Colonel Despard

Historical

Transworld Publishers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jay, Mike. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jay, Mike

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jay, Mike. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Atmosphere of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and His Sons of Genius

The Atmosphere of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and His Sons of Genius

Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic

Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic

Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind

Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind

High Society - Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture (Hardback) /anglais

High Society : Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture (B-Format) /anglais

This Way Madness Lies

The Unfortunate Colonel Despard