Chiropractic in America: The History of a Medical Alternative by J. Stuart Moore

Abstract

440 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE will allow us to replace the view of nature as independent of human influence with a view of nature that includes us. That is, nature will be replaced by the more tangible idea of a home. Rothenberg raises some very interesting and important questions concerning the relationship between technology and the natural world. Unfortunately, his book is weakened by his rather superficial knowledge of the history of technology. Many of his examples are dated, somewhat simplistic, or factually in error. For example, he uncritically accepts Mumford’s connection between the invention of the mechanical clock and the monasteries, he implies thatJames Watt invented the steam engine, and he ends his discussion of computers with the von Neumann architecture, neglecting recent developments in parallel processing. But even with these defects Rothenberg does provide a useful opening for a dialogue between engineers and envi­ ronmentalists. David Channell Dr. Channell is professor of historical studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. His most recent book is The Vital Machine: A Study ofTechnology and Organic Life (Oxford University Press, 1991). Chiropractic in America: The History ofa Medical Alternative. By J. Stuart Moore. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Pp. xiv + 228; illustrations, notes, appendixes, bibliography, index. $34.95. Chiropractic is the second largest healing group in the United States, yet despite its conspicuous presence and turbulent history, it is one of the most understudied health occupations. Chiropractic has been virtually ignored by historians and social scientists alike. Most historical accounts of chiropractic have been written by chiropractors zealously proclaiming its benefits or by medical doctors fiercely de­ nouncing it as “sheer quackery.” Chiropractic in America: The History of a Medical Alternative by J. Stuart Moore is the first nonpartisan, book-length history of chiropractic in America. It provides a compre­ hensive overview of the development of chiropractic from its early beginnings to the present, its philosophical roots, its struggles with allopathic medicine, and the internal divisions within chiropractic be­ tween harmonialists (straights) and mechanics (mixers). The book seeks to explain not only the survival of chiropractic but also its recent success, and Moore offers a multidimensional view. Chiropractic filled a need—orthodox medicine was unable, or often unwilling, to treat back injuries and ailments. In chapter 2, Moore explores the therapeutic armamentarium of allopathic physicians, and the more conservative treatments offered in self-help manuals or by alternative healers such as hydropaths. Overall, no effective treatment for back pain existed in the 19th century. Patients and TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 441 practitioners supported chiropractic because it worked. But, as Moore correctly maintains, belief in the wonders of chiropractic was a neces­ sary but not sufficient explanation for its survival. “Chiropractic le­ gitimacy had as much to do with politics as it did with science or public opinion” (p. 130). Moore argues that “chiropractic survived, in large part, because of medical hostility and legal harassment” (p. 142; emphasis in the original). In chapter 4, Moore examines the ineffec­ tive medical strategy of charging chiropractors practicing without a license. Persecution transformed chiropractors into martyrs and “bred sympathy and attendant publicity that increased business, a common experience for the medical underdog in America” (p. 77). Nonetheless, chiropractors recognized that licensure was necessary for their survival, and Moore provides a useful summary of their successes and failures. In chapter 1, Moore locates the epistemological origins of D. D. Palmer, chiropractic’s founder, in the aesthetic tradition of harmonialism and the mechanics of bonesetting. The tension between Spirit and Matter is articulated within chiropractic in the debate between harmonialists and mechanics and continues to the present day. As a result, “chiropractic can appeal both to the modern scientific commu­ nity . . . and to the holistic health and New Age sensibilities” (p. 141). The same tension operated between allopathic medicine and chiropractic. At the end of the 19th century, allopathic medicine em­ braced the materialist tradition, rejecting any hint of spiritualism. Thus, nonorthodox healers who held onto spiritual tenets were re­ garded with scorn. Ironically, the cultural authority now enjoyed by chiropractors is contingent partially on the scientific validation of spi­ nal manipulation and clinical evidence for the efficacy of chiropractic. But the...