Aging Research in the Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century

Synonyms

Fin-de-siècle; Scientific modernism

Definition

Even though the origins of the pursuit of healthy longevity can be traced back to ancient times, the onset of the modern development of aging research and therapy can be observed in the period toward the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, mainly in Europe. In this period of the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, the scientific field of gerontology and the medical field of geriatrics became established. Sometimes this period is described by the cultural-historical French term “fin-de-siècle” signifying the “end of a century” or the “end of an epoch.”

Overview

The origins of research and care of the aged are ancient. The prolongation of healthy life and rejuvenation were pursued by alchemy and gerocomia since antiquity through the Middle Ages. Literary and scholarly examples of the pursuit of longevity exist since the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Egyptian medical papyri, through the...