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The place of ‘the tropics’ in Western medical ideas since 1750
Author(s) -
Arnold David
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.1997.tb00144.x
Subject(s) - tropics , temperate climate , geography , tropical medicine , ecology , biology , zoology
Summary The idea of ‘the tropics’ as a region distinct from the ‘temperate’ world has a long history and derives from European expansion and environmental theories especially from about 1750 onwards. Although the tropics were ascribed some positive attributes, the dominant concept was a negative one and the idea of distinctive tropical diseases and the corresponding need for a separate specialty of tropical medicine largely grew out of this.