Text: From: "Remy C." To: "End Secrecy List" Subject: Bakken's new BEM Bibliography Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 23:11:18 -0400 A Bibliography of Secondary Literature on the History of Electricity and Magnetism in Medicine and the Life Sciences The Bakken Library and Museum has compiled a bibliography of 760 works dealing with the history of electricity in medicine and the life sciences. Some of the subjects included in this bibliography are: the history of electrotherapeutics, electrophysiology, electrocardiology, bioelectricity, electrodiagnosis, electropuncture, galvanosurgery, and electroencephalography. While related to the subject of electricity in the life sciences, we intentionally excluded works dealing with radiotherapy, radiology, electron microscopy, and tomography. From: http://www.bakkenmuseum.org/research/bibliography-on-electricity-in-life.htm Go directly to this page for the complete listing Electricity in Life A Bibliography of Secondary Literature on the History of Electricity and Magnetism in Medicine and the Life Sciences Compiled by David J. Rhees, Eric Boyles, and Mary Anne Andrei Copyright © 2001 The Bakken Foreword by David J. Rhees, Ph.D. Executive Director, The Bakken This bibliography contains some 760 works relating to the history of electricity and magnetism and their diverse applications in medicine and the life sciences. When I became Executive Director of The Bakken Library and Museum in 1992, I was struck by the fact that an impressive body of historical literature had developed around this fascinating interdisciplinary subject area. Indeed, The Bakken itself, founded in 1975, both reflected the increasing interest in this field and contributed significantly to its growth and development. Most of the leading researchers in the field have made use of our rich historical collections, many of them aided by our Visiting Research Fellowships. As noted above, one of the most interesting aspects of this field is its highly interdisciplinary character, which crosses the histories of science, technology, and medicine, with occasional forays into the histories of art, music, literature, religion, and other topics. In part because of this interdisciplinary aspect, existing bibliographies did not provide adequate access to this literature, prompting the launching of this project. A substantial initial draft was developed in 1996 with the aid of Mr. Eric Boyles, then with the University of Minnesota's Program in History of Science and Technology, but was laid aside when The Bakken launched a $6 million expansion and renovation project. With the completion of the project, the bibliography was taken up again and expanded to its present size with the assistance of Ms. Mary Anne Andrei, also of the Program in History of Science and Technology. I would also like to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Elizabeth Ihrig, The Bakken's Librarian. The main subject areas of the bibliography include the following: Animal electricity Bioelectricity Bioelectrochemistry Electroacupuncture Electrocardiography Electroconvulsive therapy Electrodiagnosis Electroencephalography Electropathology Electrophysiology Electrotherapeutics Galvanosurgery Iontophoresis In general, we did not attempt to cover cognate fields such as mesmerism, radiotherapy, radiology, electron microscopy, and imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging. These areas are covered by other bibliographies or were deemed too tangential. Sources consulted in the compilation of this bibliography included the Bibliography of the History of Medicine, the Isis Cumulative Bibliography, the Society of History of Technology's bibliographies, and the card catalogue of The Bakken Library and Museum. The majority of entries were gathered from electronic databases, including Dissertation Abstracts, Expanded Academic Index, General Reference Center Gold, HISTLINE, Historical Abstracts, History of Science and Technology, MEDLINE, RLIN Bibliographic Files, and WorldCat. The bibliography is organized alphabetically by author within four sections. The first three sections, totaling 27 entries, are: Bibliographies and Reference Works Guides to Manuscript and Archival Collections Primary Sources (Modern Editions) The bulk of the entries are to be found in the fourth section: Secondary Sources The bibliography is searchable electronically by using the "Find" function under the "Edit" menu of most web browsers. The continued growth of the literature on the history of "electricity in life" ensures that this bibliography can only be a work-in-progress. We look forward to regularly updating it. This is not to say that the present bibliography has identified all the sources published to date, of course, and we encourage researchers to kindly alert us to any errors or omissions. Please direct correspondence to me at rhees@thebakken.org. One of the beauties of the world wide web is that it makes timely updates and corrections easy and affordable. Even so there is a great deal to be said for the convenience and relative permanence of paper. We very much hope that this valuable research tool will appear in print in the not-too-distant future. It would be a gross injustice to conclude this foreword without paying tribute to one of the people who is responsible for the present high level of interest, both contemporary and historical, in electromedical science and technology. As inventor of the first transistorized, wearable cardiac pacemaker and founder of Medtronic, Inc., Earl E. Bakken has played a leading role in making electromedical technology a central part of modern biomedicine. As founder of the library and museum that bears his name, he also has ensured that the history of "electricity in life" will continue to be preserved, interpreted, and disseminated among scholars, students, teachers, and the general public. Earl Bakken justly deserves our thanks and appreciation. February 22, 2001

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