Crossing Frontiers
Gerontology Emerges as a Science

This is the first book-length study of the history of gerontology. It shows how old age became a 'problem' worth investigating and how a mulitidisciplinary orientation took shape.

W. Andrew Achenbaum (Author)

9780521481946, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 August 1995

296 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.61 kg

"Crossing Fronteirs...presents a cognent history of gerontology as a scientific field; it offers a prescription for the future..." Journal of American History

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. Despite dozens of aging-related journals, and a notable increase in state, regional, national and international networks, there are no widely shared techniques or distinctive methods. Theories of aging remain partial and tentative. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, Crossing Frontiers shows 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.

Introduction
Two Precursors
Keywords
OLD AGE BECOMES A 'PROBLEM' WORTH INVESTIGATING SCIENTIFICALLY
1. Surveying the Frontiers of Aging
2. Setting Boundaries for Disciplined Discoveries
3. Establishing Outposts for Multidisciplinary Research on Aging
GERONTOLOGY TAKES SHAPE IN THE ERA OF BIG SCIENCE
4. Organizing the Gerontological Society to Promote Interdisciplinary Research Amid Disciplinary and Professional Constriction
5. Risk-taking in the Modern Research University – The Fate of Multidisciplinary Institutes on Aging
6. The Federal Government as Sponsor, Producer, and Consumer of Research on Aging
7. Gerontology in the Service of America's Aging Veterans
Conclusion
The Current State of the Field
Reconstructing Gerontology

Subject Areas: Geriatric medicine [MJX]