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(2015) An illustrated history of health and fitness, from pre-history to our post-modern world, Dordrecht, Springer.
The Victorian era
the birth of scientific societies and the blossoming of public health
Roy J. Shephard
pp. 559-714
New laboratory equipment gave an increasingly accurate picture of human physiology, with the findings eagerly discussed in scientific societies and journals. Positivism encouraged evidence-based research. Many doctors still prescribed bed rest, but some began to advise exercise not only for health but also for intellectual development. Florence Nightingale and Almoth Wright spurred disease prevention in military hospitals. Microbiology offered effective measures against epidemics, and major efforts began to improve urban hygiene, housing and working conditions Theologians and philosophers argued the relative contributions of personal and societal efforts to wellness. Rival approaches to physical conditioning included German and Swedish gymnastics, and English "public" school sports programmes. A long list of sporting organizations testified to a wide range of new recreational opportunities, now open to women as well as men. New transportation networks and the mechanization of industrial and domestic work reduced daily energy expenditures. Spectator sports flourished, thanks to newspaper publicity and access by mass transit. Reading, drama, concerts, opera, and burlesque for the working class offered other new possibilities for sedentary leisure. Physical condition was viewed in the context of survival rather than quality of life, with little objective data on how population fitness was affected by these social changes.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-11671-6_7
Full citation:
Shephard, R. J. (2015). The Victorian era: the birth of scientific societies and the blossoming of public health, in An illustrated history of health and fitness, from pre-history to our post-modern world, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 559-714.
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