Includes bibliographical references and index.

Terminology and disease description -- The framing of multiple sclerosis -- The palsy without a name: suffering with paraplegia, 1395-1868 -- The steps toward a discovery : the early medical reports -- The building blocks of a discovery -- The contribution of J.M. Charcot, 1868 -- The medical reports after Charcot -- Clarifying the pathology : James Dawson -- The journal of a disappointed man -- Experimentation, meetings, reviews, and symposia, 1920-1960 -- Searching for a cause of MS -- Classifying and measuring MS -- The nature of the MS plaque -- Investigations -- Searching for therapy -- Multiple sclerosis and the public: societies, narratives and the media.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2013. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.