Experts and historical archivists highlight Braid's unique contribution to the transition from occultism to medicine:
A concise look at Braid’s legacy as the "Father of Hypnosis" is available on Britannica . NEURYPNOLOGY James Braid
James Braid | Health and Medicine | Research Starters - EBSCO James Braid’s seminal work
For a deeper look at Braid's medical career and his "crucial experiment," see the academic overview on ResearchGate . the Rationale of Nervous Sleep (1843)
Braid coined the terms "hypnotism" and "hypnosis" in this book, though he later preferred "monoideism" when he realized the state was not actually sleep.
James Braid’s seminal work, Neurypnology; or, the Rationale of Nervous Sleep (1843), is considered the foundational text of modern hypnotism. In it, Braid moved the field away from the mystical "animal magnetism" of Franz Mesmer toward a physiological and scientific understanding of trance as a state of "nervous sleep". Core Principles of Neurypnology