Crossing Frontiers Gerontology Emerges as a Science [Paperback]

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.Gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, this study shows how old age became a problem worth investigating.Gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. By tracing intellectual networks and analyzing institutional patterns, this study shows how old age became a problem worth investigating.Gerontology did not emerge as a scientific field of inquiry in the United States until the twentieth century. 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 remains 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 ...[a] perceptive, beautifully written and superbly organized history lŽ