This book will be welcomed by readers in academia and medicine as an illustration of the diversity of research into anaesthesia and associated history of this fascinating subject

Anaesthesia in the 21^st Century; Intravenous Anaesthetics: The Alternative to Gases; Entonox and its Development; PET Scanning - What can it tell us about Anaesthesia?; The Neural Processes Involved in Anaesthesia and a Comparison of the Effects of Nitrous Oxide and Halothane on Somatosensory Transmission; Anaesthetic Actions on Fast Synaptic Transmission; The Actions of Anaesthetics on Voltage-gated and Voltage-dependent Ion Channels; The GABA_A Receptor: An Important Locus for Intravenous Anaesthetic Action; Anaesthetic Effects on the Spinal Cord; Humphry Davy, Thomas Beddoes and the Introduction of Nitrous Oxide Anaesthesia; William Morton and the Early Work on Anaesthesia in the USA; Objections to Anaesthesia: The Case of James Young Simpson; The Manufacture of Anaesthetic Nitrous Oxide N₂O - A Study in Technology Blending; Nitric Oxide; Other Gases Used Medically; Non-Hypnotic Effects of General Anaesthesia; Interaction Between General Anaesthesia and High Pressure; A Genetic Approach to Understanding Anaesthesia; Do we need new Anaesthetic Drugs?; Subject Index.