Born 19 Jun 1795; died 25 Mar 1860 at age 64.

#Scottish #optometrist whose experiments led him to an early theory of #hypnosis that dismissed the idea of "animal #magnetism." Earlier, Franz Mesmer induced trances with manual manipulations he believed controlled a force field of animal magnetism. Braid discovered such "#mesmeric passes were unnecessary.

A person fixating on a bright object about 8 to 15 inches above the eyes could easily enter a trance. In his 1841 book, #Neurypnology or the Rationale of Nervous #Sleep considered in relation with Animal Magnetism, he coined the word "hypnotism" from the Greek word "hypnos" meaning "sleep." Thus #hypnotism replaced #mesmerism, even though later investigation showed that hypnosis was not, in fact, related to sleep.

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