REVIEWS:
‘Magnificent!’
-Oliver Sacks

‘Enthralling’
-Richard Holmes

‘A superb book, learned and full of insight…fascinating, exciting, entertaining’
-London Review of Books

‘A vivid and thrilling biography…it is also a powerful account of the meaning of science’
-New Scientist

‘Dashing characters within a fascinating narrative…The Atmosphere of Heaven is remarkable in its deft interweaving of medicine, politics and underlying philosophical ideas’
-New York Review of Books

‘Brilliantly researched and written’
-Publishers’ Weekly

‘A superb achievement, blessedly lucid, full of good stories…lively, informative and rich in detail of an extraordinary era’
-Literary Review

‘The Atmosphere of Heaven is serious historical writing that can be read like a novel’
-The Lancet

‘For anyone who enjoyed Jenny Uglow’s The Lunar Men or Richard Holmes The Age of Wonder, this is a must-read account of Enlightenment enthusiasm’
-BBC History Magazine

‘Excellent and eminently readable book…Mike Jay has succeeded in capturing the excitement of the times…a thoroughly inspiring, informative and enjoyable read.’
-Gabriel Scally, International Journal of Epidemiology

DESCRIPTION:
At the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, 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, his 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 anaesthetic surgery, and the birth of the Romantic movement.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:
 Mike Jay has written extensively on scientific and medical history and is a specialist in the study of drugs.

RELATED LINK:
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SUBJECT CLASSIFICATIONS:
History of science
History of medicine

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Illustrations: 24 black-&-white illustrations
Number of Pages: 320
Dewey: 610.92