ABOUT THIS BOOK

Although scorned in the early 1900s and publicly condemned by Abraham Flexner and the American Medical Association, the practice of homeopathy did not disappear. Instead, it evolved with the emergence of holistic healing and Eastern philosophy in the United States and today is a form of alternative medicine practiced by more than 100,000 physicians worldwide and used by millions of people to treat everyday ailments as well as acute and chronic diseases.

The History of American Homeopathy traces the rise of lay practitioners in shaping homeopathy as a healing system and its relationship to other forms of complementary and alternative medicine in an age when conventional biomedicine remains the dominant form. Representing the most current and up-to-date history of American homeopathy, readers will benefit from John S. Haller Jr.'s comprehensive explanation of complementary medicine within the American social, scientific, religious, and philosophic traditions.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

JOHN S. HALLER JR. is a professor emeritus of history and medical humanities at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and the author of several books, among them The History of American Homeopathy: The Academic Years, 1820–1935.

REVIEWS

"Haller takes readers on a historical journey involving American homeopathy as it traversed the political, professional, scientific, and cultural landscape from the late-19th century to the beginning of the 21st century. Experts and novices to American homeopathy will find this book to be comprehensive, objective, informative, and engaging. Recommended."

— Choice

"A key achievement of this intriguing book is in capturing the shifting and diverse nature of homeopathy itself, which Haller depicts as having developed from an empirical science to a religious belief system. Haller encompasses the complexity of the development of homeopathy within a cogent narrative."

— Bulletin of the History of Medicine

"Once again, Professor Haller offers an incisive analysis of a major alternative medical system, providing an extraordinarily thorough and nuanced examination of the evolution of homeopathic medicine over the last one hundred years."

— James C. Whorton, author of Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America

"This is an important and outstanding work of scholarship. Neither partisan nor apologetic, it brings the strength of objectivity to homeopathy that has often been lacking in its checkered historiography. Meticulously researched and engagingly written, this book is destined to be the standard work on this colorful and historically rich group of healthcare crusaders for years to come."

— Michael A. Flannery, associate director for Historical Collections, University of Alabama

"John Haller, an eminent historian of alternative medicine, has written a unique and finely woven account on homeopathy and the transformations that have characterized its long history. In this volume, he focuses on its evolving status from a medical practitioner based system of treatment to one now largely embraced by segments of the public in search of alternative therapies. Well-organized and bearing the imprint of a master historian, it is a pleasure to read."

— Pascal James Imperato, founding dean, School of Public Health, State University of New York, Downstate

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Chapter 1: The Decline of Academic Homeopathy
Chapter 2: Esoteric Homeopathy
Chapter 3: The Laity Speaks Out
Chapter 4: Postwar Trends
Chapter 5: Roads Taken and Not Taken
Chapter 6: Whither the Future?
Notes
Bibliography
Index