ISBN:
0521481945
,
0521558808
Language:
English
Pages:
XIII, 278 S.
Edition:
1. publ.
DDC:
305.26
Keywords:
Gerontologie
;
Gérontologie - États-Unis
;
Geschichte
;
Geriatrics history
;
Gerontology History
;
Gerontologie
;
Geschichte
;
USA
;
USA
;
USA
;
Gerontologie
;
Geschichte
Abstract:
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.
