1727 SHORT, Thomas (1690 – 1772)
A discourse concerning the causes and effects of corpulency, together with the method for its prevention and cure.
The first book on obesity in English.
GMN 7061 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/9228
1760 FLEMYNG, Malcolm ( – 1764)
A discourse on the nature, causes, and cure of corpulency. Illustrated by a remarkable case, Read before the Royal Society, November 1757. And now first published.
Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.
GMN 7060 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/9227
1829 WADD, William (1776 – 1829)
Comments on corpulency, lineaments of leanness ....
The first illustrated book on obesity research or medical efforts to control overweight. Wadd, one of the surgeons extraordinary to George IV, drew and engraved the illustrations himself. Digital facsimile from the In…
GMN 9472 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/11656
1835 QUETELET, Lambert Adolphe Jacques (1796 – 1874)
Sur l’homme et le développement des facultés, ou essai de physique sociale. 2 vols.
Quetelet’s statistical researches on the development of the physical and intellectual qualities of man, and an exposition of his concept of the “average man”, which became the by-word of quantitative studies. "Quétele…
GMN 1698.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/2457
1863 BANTING, William (1779 – 1878)
Letter on corpulence; address to the public.
Banting, a prominent English undertaker, and formerly obese, was the first to popularize a weight loss diet based on limiting intake of refined and easily digestible carbohydrates. He changed his diet at the suggestio…
GMN 3914 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/5027
1875 WORTHINGTON, Lewis Sedam
De l'obésité: étiologie, thérapeutique et hygiène. Thèse présentée et soutenue le 12 Aout 1875.
Primarily a summary of research on the subject to date. Worthington was an American from Cincinnati who received his M.D. in Paris in 1876, and practiced there until 1879, when he returned to the U.S.A. A geneological…
GMN 7064 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/9231
1900 –1910 NOORDEN, Carl Harko von (1858 – 1944)
Sammlung klinischer Abhandlungen über Pathologie und Therapie der Stoffwechsel- und Ernährungsstörungen. 9 pts.
Noorden succeeded Nothnagel at Vienna. He made important studies of metabolism and its disorders. His section on obesity was translated into English as Obesity: the indications for reduction cures. Part 1 of Clinical …
GMN 3919 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/5045
1912 CUSHING, Harvey Williams (1869 – 1939)
The pituitary body and its disorders.
The first clinical monograph on the hypophysis. Cushing, outstanding neurological surgeon of the early 20th century, added much to our knowledge of the pituitary body and its disorders. The above work includes a descr…
GMN 3896 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4960
1916 CARLSON, Anton Julius (1875 – 1956)
The control of hunger in health and disease.
Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.
GMN 1033 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/1004
1940 RONY, Hugo R.
Obesity and leanness.
The first American book specifically devoted to obesity research.
GMN 7063 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/9230
1994 FRIEDMAN, Jeffrey M. (1954 – ); ZHANG, Yiying
Positional cloning of the mouse obese gene and its human homologue.
Discovery of the hormone leptin and its role in regulating body weight. Friedman and associates subsequently found that injections of the encoded protein, leptin, decrease body weight of mice by reducing food intake a…
GMN 7066 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/9233
2007 BRAY, George A. (1931 – )
The battle of the bulge: A history of obesity research.
GMN 7059 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/9226
2009 POWER, Michael L.; SCHULKIN, Jay
The evolution of obesity.
GMN 12144 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14353
2010 VIGARELLO, Georges (1941 – )
Les metamorphoses du gras: histoire de l'obésité.
Translated into English by C. Jon Delogu as The metamorphosis of fat: A history of obesity (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013).
GMN 9661 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/11848
2010 GILMAN, Sander L. (1941 – )
Obesity: The biography.
GMN 9662 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/11849
2011 BRAY, George A. (1931 – )
A guide to obesity and the metabolic syndrome: Origins and treatment.
GMN 7132 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/9299
