Abstract
The seventeenth century was regarded as the Age of Scientific Revolution and included the major medical developments that impacted upon the understanding of sleep disorders. It was the time of Descartes who formulated theories of sleep based upon mechanisms and also the time of William Shakespeare who extensively wrote about sleep and sleep disorders in his novels. The vascular theories of the cause of sleep were paramount in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and it was the time of the first descriptions of obstructive sleep apnea and the age of chronobiology with De Mairan’s studies of the circadian effects of plant behavior that was independent of light exposure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Thorpy M. History of sleep medicine. Handb Clin Neurol. 2011;98:3–25.
Wight DJ, Duff AM. Minor Latin poets. Vol I. Publilius Syrus. Harvard: Harvard University Press; 1994.
Descartes R. Treatise of man. Reprinted in 1972. In: Hall TS, editor. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 1632.
Shakespeare W. Macbeth. (Thomas Marc Parrott, editor). New York: American Book; 1904.
Van Helmont JB. Ortus medicinæ: id est initia physicæ inaudita. Amsterdam: Apud Ludovicum Elzevirium; 1648.
Willis T. Practice of physick. London: Dring T, Harper C, Leigh J; 1684.
Oliver O. An account of an extraordinary sleepy person. Philos Trans. 1705;304:2177–82.
Platter Felix. Observationum, in hominis affectibus plerisque, corpori et animo, functionum laesione, dolore, aliave molestia et vitio incommodantibus, libri tres, Basel Koenig, 5–6, 1614.
Simpson HN. Obesity, heart failure due to (a further note on). New Engl J Med. 1958;259:34.
Santorio Santorio. De Statica medicina aphorismorum sectiones septem, accendunt in hoc opus commentarii martini lister, et georgii baglivii. Venice: Novelli; 1759.
de Mairan J. Observation Botanique. Paris: Histoire de 1’Académie Royale des Sciences; 1729.
Linnaeus C. Philosophia Botanica. Stockholm: God of Kiesewetter; 1751.
Von Haller A. Elementa Physiologiae Corporis Humani. 8Â Vols. Lausannae: Sumptibus; 1766.
Wittern R. Sleep theories in the antiquity and in the Renaissance. In: Horne JA, editor. Sleep 88. Stuttgart: Fischer Verlag; 1989. pp. 11–22.
Blumenbach J. Anfangs Grande de Physiologie. Göttingen: J.C. Dieterich; 1795.
Atkins J. A voyage to Guinea, Brazil, and the West Indies. London: Ward C., Chandler R. 1735. pp. 72–3.
Galvani L. De viribus electricitatis in motu musculari commentarius. Bologna: Ex typographia Instituti Scientiarum; 1791.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Thorpy, M. (2015). Sleep in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. In: Chokroverty, S., Billiard, M. (eds) Sleep Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2089-1_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2089-1_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2088-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2089-1
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)