James Braid: The Surgeon Who Invented Hypnotism

James Braid was a surgeon in Scotland. He lived in the 1800s and worked in Manchester, England.

One day, Braid watched a magnetizer perform a show. The man said he could control people's minds. Braid did not believe this. He wanted to find the real reason.

Braid thought the answer was in the person's own mind, not magic. He asked people to look at a bright object. This made them feel very relaxed and sleepy. He called this state 'hypnotism.' The word comes from 'hypnos,' a Greek word for sleep. But Braid said it was not real sleep.

Braid used hypnotism to help patients. It helped with pain. He wrote books about his ideas.

But many doctors did not believe him. They thought hypnotism was fake or just a trick. Braid worked hard, but people accepted his ideas only after he died.