By Roberta Bivins. 238 pp., illustrated. New York, Oxford University Press, 2008. $35. ISBN 978-0-19-921887-5.
Whether acupuncture from China, Ayurvedic therapies from India,or homeopathy in Europe, in her scholarly book, Roberta Bivinspresents the belief systems that gave rise to such ancient practicesand then follows their subsequent problematic global voyagesto other cultures. Neither an allopathic doctor nor an alternativepractitioner, Bivins provides readers with a social examinationof these "exotic" techniques, from moxabustion to mesmerism,and explains how each was introduced (and then studied, simulated,ridiculed, or rejected) by Western physicians in Europe andthe United States. The nearly four-century transcontinentalpropagation was not always easy — especially when correspondingbelief systems . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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