Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/smi.1027

Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Stress and Health 20: 239–240 (2004)240

How does one define the word ‘stress’?Depending on the discipline, this broad

word encompasses many meanings that stemfrom different origins. Even today, the word stressis still unclearly defined. However, the need toreduce stress in the workplace is becoming onlyclear as human health continues to pay the pricefor better work performance and higher pro-ductivity. Research into the personalities and situations that are more prone to stress as well as strategies for stress reduction have been anintense area of study since the early 1900s. Thebook reviewed here is an informative and con-cise summary of landmarks in the history of stress research, with themes originating from overa hundred years of contributions to the field.Reading this book leaves one with a better under-standing of how the link was first drawn betweenstress and human disease, and the physicians/scientists that made these crucial discoveries.

The authors begin by highlighting the seminalcontributions of early researchers such as WalterCannon, Hans Seyle and Harold Wolff, describ-ing how the body is in a dynamic state, capableof responding to external stimuli, such as disease,to maintain normal body functions. Early modelsof stress such as psychosomatic approach, home-ostasis, and general adaptation syndrome are dis-cussed. The mid-twentieth century made way forgreat expansions in the field, and the authorsdraw on work by Richard Lazarus, who under-scored how an individual’s attitudes, beliefs andexpectations, could influence that way that stressis perceived and how it affects the individual. Inthe beginning chapters, it was interesting to seehow the concept of stress developed from ananalogy to engineering ‘stress’ with man-madeobjects (i.e. bridges), into an active response thatcould be elicited by the body to protect itself from

the changes within the environment. Disease was thought to result when this balance was disrupted.

Near the end of the book, the authors focusedon one topic, dedicating one chapter to a discus-sion of workplace stress and occupational healthpsychology. Here, the authors provided a thor-ough account of the causes of work-related stressin the late twentieth century and some of the initiatives that were implemented to manage it. In addition, current strategies for improvingstress management in the workplace are dis-cussed. It should be noted that both authors areexperts in this particular area of research.

The book ends by reminding the reader thatunderstanding the current definition of stressrelies upon the knowledge of its history and anidea of its future. This book takes a step intoaccomplishing this goal. The last chapter, ‘Whatdo we mean by stress: from the past to the future’calls attention to the fact that the word ‘stress’embodies many meanings and that there areinconsistencies in how the term is used. Thus, thischapter unifies the themes described in the bookas generally accepted ideologies in the field ofstress research, but also points out a need for amore organized concept of ‘stress’ in the future.

Consisting of six chapters and 144 pages, thisbook is indeed a summarized version of mostimportant contributions of the field. But despiteits brevity, the authors have done well by puttingstructure to a field that has grown and evolved somuch in the last century. This book provides up-to-date information (first published 2004) to awide variety of readers. The text is well refer-enced and a quick skim can direct readers toimportant references that add more substance tothe topics discussed. Students will also appreciateits affordable price ($17.95 U.S. paperback). Asa whole, this book carries more than enoughinformation for one to appreciate the origins ofan exciting and necessary field of study.

Andy Yi-an ShihPh.D. Candidate. Graduate Program in

Neuroscience, Kinsmen Laboratory of Neurological Sciences University of British

Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Stress: A Brief HistoryC. L. Cooper and P. DeweBlackwell Publishing, Oxford, 2004, 144 pp.(paperback), $17.95 (U.S.). ISBN 1-405-10745-6.

*Correspondence to: Dr Cai Song, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CanadaE-mail: caisong@interchange.ubc.ca