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A history of the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, guided by the maverick Thomas Beddoes, and the discovery of the mind-altering effects of nitrous oxide which was to have far-reaching consequences, not least on the birth of the Romantic movement.
Synopsis
At the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol, founded in the closing years of the eighteenth century, dramatic experiments with gases precipitated not only a revolution in scientific medicine but also in the history of ideas. This book tells the story of maverick doctor Thomas Beddoes and the brilliant circle who surrounded him.
