Chapter 1. Those pesky dates: A simplified time line for the evolution of society.- Chapter 2. The hunter-gatherer idyll.- Chapter 3. Irrigation and the seductive sedentary lifestyle.- Chapter 4. Evolution of the sedentary lifestyle in classical culture.
- Chapter 5. Were the lights turned off during the dark ages? Or did Muslim scholars keep knowledge a boil?.- Chapter 6. The renaissance: daring to challenge traditional wisdom.- Chapter 7. The Enlightenment: How far do reason and religion influence health and fitness in an age of industrialization?.- Chapter 8. The Victorian Era: A wealthier society offers new recreational possibilities, especially to women.
- Chapter 9 . The Modern era: growing health in the face of unemployment and war.- Chapter 10. The Ludic impulse: why did early societies engage in play?.- Chapter 11. The classical Olympic Movement: an early stimulus to health and fitness?.- Chapter 12. The moder n Olympics: stimulus to health and fitness, or five-ring circus?.
- Chapter 13. The early health professional- unfettered amateur, servant of the gods or wealthy charlatan?.- Chapter 14. Herb gardens, naturopathy and health.- Chapter 15. Bizarre by-ways in the search for good health.- Chapter 16. Caring for the sick: hospitals and hospices.
- Chapter 17. The emergence of health science education.- Chapter 18. Literature in the search for health and fitness.- Chapter 19. Teaching health and fitness to the growing child: the physical educator.- Chapter 20. Co-opting fitness and sport for political objectives.
- Chapter 21. Governmental involvement in health care and health promotion.- Chapter 22. Building the infrastructure and regulations for public health and fitness.- Chapter 23. Health and fitness in industry; the development of occupational health.- Chapter 24. Understanding the root causes of ill-health: the emergence of epidemiology, bacteriology and immunology.
- Chapter 25 . The feminine touch in health and fitness.- Chapter 26. The emergence of professional associations and journals in the exercise sciences.- Chapter 27. The growing knowledge of anatomy and physiology through to the Enlightenment.- Chapter 28. Recent gains in knowledge of anatomy and physiology.
- Chapter 29. Exercise as medicine in antiquity.- Chapter 30. The Post-modern era and beyond: Meeting future challenges to health and fitness.