On this page you will find a variety of resources on the history of medical technologies for disabilities.
Artificial parts, practical lives : modern histories of prosthetics by
From the wooden teeth of George Washington to the Bly prosthesis, popular in the 1860s and boasting easy uniform motions of the limb, to today's lifelike approximations, prosthetic devices reveal the extent to which the evolution and design of technologies of the body are intertwined with both the practical and subjective needs of human beings. The peculiar history of prosthetic devices sheds light on the relationship between technological change and the civilizing process of modernity, and analyzes the concrete materials of prosthetics which carry with them ideologies of body, ideals, body politics, and culture. Simultaneously critiquing, historicizing, and theorizing prosthetics, Artificial Parts, Practical Lives lays out a balanced and complex picture of its subject, neither vilifying nor celebrating the merger of flesh and machine.
Making hands : a history of prosthetic arms by
Making Hands: The Design and Use of Upper Extremity Prosthetics provides a historical account of the development of upper extremity prostheses. It describes different aspects surrounding the development of key elements of mechanisms and control, for prosthetic hands and arms, and includes biographical sketches of some key contributors. The field is broad and uses knowledge from a wide range of disciplines. Sections cover the background to give researchers and professionals what they need to learn about adjacent fields. The author's expertise on the control of prostheses makes this a very comprehensive resource on the topic. Covers research and technological innovation in the development of upper limb prostheses Introduces upper limb prosthetics from the different perspectives of biology, engineering, clinical practice and industry Discusses innovations of the recent decades, rapid manufacture, the 'citizen engineer', and how these things may shape prosthetics in the future
Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture by 
Accessible America : a history of disability and design by
A history of design that is often overlooked--until we need it Have you ever hit the big blue button to activate automatic doors? Have you ever used an ergonomic kitchen tool? Have you ever used curb cuts to roll a stroller across an intersection? If you have, then you've benefited from accessible design--design for people with physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities. These ubiquitous touchstones of modern life were once anything but. Disability advocates fought tirelessly to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities became a standard part of public design thinking. That fight took many forms worldwide, but in the United States it became a civil rights issue; activists used design to make an argument about the place of people with disabilities in public life. In the aftermath of World War II, with injured veterans returning home and the polio epidemic reaching the Oval Office, the needs of people with disabilities came forcibly into the public eye as they never had before. The US became the first country to enact federal accessibility laws, beginning with the Architectural Barriers Act in 1968 and continuing through the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, bringing about a wholesale rethinking of our built environment. This progression wasn't straightforward or easy. Early legislation and design efforts were often haphazard or poorly implemented, with decidedly mixed results. Political resistance to accommodating the needs of people with disabilities was strong; so, too, was resistance among architectural and industrial designers, for whom accessible design wasn't "real" design. Bess Williamson provides an extraordinary look at everyday design, marrying accessibility with aesthetic, to provide an insight into a world in which we are all active participants, but often passive onlookers. Richly detailed, with stories of politics and innovation, Williamson's Accessible America takes us through this important history, showing how American ideas of individualism and rights came to shape the material world, often with unexpected consequences.