Jonathan Swift y su contribución científica en "Los viajes de Gulliver" / Jonathan Swift's scientific contribution on his "Gulliver's Travels"

ABSTRACT

Jonathan Swift is one of the most celebrated satirist writers in literature. His well-known "Gulliver's Travels", apartfrom being a serious human being criticism, contains many interesting ana unrecognized comments about medical and other scientific facts. Swift made what seems to be thefirst account of a dementing illness in the elderly; his description fits well with what we now know as Alzheimer's disease. He also described a condition now called synaesthesia, a very interestingphenomenon that may contribute to creativity. In thispaper, we review aspects ofhis Ufe and reveal these amazing descriptions as samples of Swift's extraordinary power of observation.