Abstract
Jonathan Swift is one of the most celebrated satirist writers in literature. His well-known "Gulliver's Travels", apart from being a serious human being criticism, contains many interesting ana unrecognized comments about medical and other scientific facts. Swift made what seems to be the first account of a dementing illness in the elderly; his description fits well with what we now know as Alzheimer's disease. He also described a condition now called synaesthesia, a very interesting phenomenon that may contribute to creativity. In this paper, we review aspects of his life and reveal these amazing descriptions as samples of Swift's extraordinary power of observation.
Highlights
Jonathan Swift is one of the most celebrated satirist writers in literature
Swift made what seems to be the first account of a dementing illness in the elderly; his description fits well with what we know as Alzheimer’s disease
He described a condition called synaesthesia, a very interesting phenomenon that may contribute to creativity
Summary
Jonathan Swift is one of the most celebrated satirist writers in literature. His well-known “Gulliver’s Travels”, apart from being a serious human being criticism, contains many interesting and unrecognized comments about medical and other scientific facts. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), escritor irlandés, quien fue uno de los más celebrados y mordaces críticos de su época, es recordado por su obra maestra “Los viajes de Gulliver” (1726). Swift destacó además por ser un agudo crítico de la política y las relaciones entre Inglaterra e Irlanda, y un importante líder espiritual de la catedral de San Patricio en Dublín, su ciudad natal[1,2]. Es evidente que Swift con su agudo poder de observación traspasó a sus escritos lo que había observado en la realidad sobre el decaimiento intelectual de las personas; en particular los cambios cognitivos de su protector, su tío Godwin quién murió demenciado[7]
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