There have been many developments in anaesthesia since Joseph Priestley discovered nitrous oxide. Covering new anaesthetics, the molecular and cellular mechanisms of anaesthesia and the non-hypnotic effects of anaesthetics and other medical gases, Gases in Medicine combines reviews of current research from both academic and clinical perspectives and provides an historical framework in which this research may be placed. Encompassing a wide range of topics including intravenous anaesthetics, neural processes and the 1997 Priestley Lecture on nitric oxide, this book offers an accessible summary of anaesthesia along with the current best research. Also included is the BOC Centenary Lecture, which gives a perspective on anaesthesia for the 21st century. This book will be welcomed by readers in academia and medicine as an illustration of the diversity of research into anaesthesia and the 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.