Streptomycin, Schatz v. Waksman, and the balance of credit for discovery

A recent article in Nature, arguing that "the misallocation of credit is endemic in science," used Selman Waksman as an illustration, claiming that the true discoverer of streptomycin was one of his graduate students. The article received wide publicity and seriously damaged Waksman's great reputation. What actually happened was that the success of penicillin stimulated Merck to fund research by Waksman, a soil scientist, into the collection of actinomycetes that he had assembled over thirty years. He applied the systematic, uncreative testing techniques that had made the German pharmaceutical industry so successful to these, and streptomycin was discovered within a matter of months. Work in the Mayo Institute then showed that it was marvelously effective against tuberculosis, and Waksman received the Nobel Prize for it in 1952. The test that turned out to be the crucial one could have been carried out by any of several students, but the lucky one was Albert Schatz. He then sued the university for a share of the royalties payable by Merck and also petitioned the Nobel committee to include him in the award. Although he obtained a very substantial out-of-court settlement, this probably damaged his subsequent academic career, and he has never ceased to argue his case for recognition, of which the Nature article is a reflection. To claim that Waksman took credit properly due to Schatz is to fail to understand that once pharmaceutical research had become primarily a matter of large-scale, routine testing, little individual creativity was left in this work. Credit for any successful results must therefore be given to whoever is the originator or director of a particular program. Nature refused to publish evidence that this case could not be used as an example of misallocation of credit for discovery. This in itself illustrates that editors of scientific journals should be every bit as mindful of scientists' reputations as they are of scientific facts.     

Sputniks,explorers and propaganda: The discovery of the earth's radiation belts 1

Abstract

The most important scientific discovery of the early space era ‐ the 1958 discovery of the radiation belts of the Earth ‐ was made in the context of Cold War rivalry between the USSR and the USA. The paper uses previously unavailable archival records to reconstruct the relative contributions of American and Soviet researchers and their interations during the process of discovery. The former discovered what is now known as the inner radiation belt, while the latter observed the outer radiation belt and gradually came to realize the existence of two distinctively different zones of radiation. The uses of science for the purposes of Cold War political propaganda affected the behavior of scientists and led to the misrepresentation of the events in mass media.     

The discovery of the Golgi apparatus

The existence of the cell organelle which is now known as Golgi apparatus or Golgi complex, or simply as 'the Golgi", was first reported by Camillo Golgi in 1898, when he described in nerve cells an 'internal reticular apparatus' impregnated by a variant of his chromoargentic staining. It soon became clear that the newly-identified cytoplasmic structure occurred in a variety of cell types. However, the reality of the organelle was questioned for decades, until it was finally ascertained with electron microscopy. The Golgi apparatus was destined to become a protagonist of the research in cytology and cell biology pursued in the second half of the twentieth century.     

Two Late Neolithic human skeletons,a recent discovery in the Netherlands

Recently, two Late Neolithic skeletons belonging to the Single Grave Culture (ca. 4500 BP) were discovered in the province of North-Holland. It is the first time that such complete and well-preserved skeletons of this age have been found in The Netherlands. Both skeletons were subjected to an extensive and close examination in order to gain more information about these two individuals and their way of life. Application of different methods resulted in the determination of the sex (a male and a female), the age at death and the stature of the skeletons. Pathological features could be established in the female skeleton by means of radiography. The male skeleton was incomplete owing to animal scavenging. The tooth marks on the bones were studied in an attempt to discover the circumstances of death. In order to obtain information about the diet of the two individuals, the dental microwear and the remains of plaque and calculus were investigated. This investigation demonstrates the importance of physical anthropological studies with regard to the reconstruction of life in the past.     

禹会村遗址的发掘收获及学术意义

禹会村遗址是淮河流域一处较大型的龙山文化遗址,也是中国古代文明探源工程中关键时期的关键遗址,对其发掘,为考证与相邻地区同类文化的关系,提供了直接的证据,同时也弥补了龙山文化的地域性空白,更重要的是为求证大禹治水史绩、探索江淮地区文明起源的进程以及后来如何汇聚、如何加速王朝国家的形成过程,具有重大意义。     

First discovery of the ancient dingo-type dog in Polynesia (Pukapuka,Cook Islands)

A Dingo-type dog skeleton was excavated in Pukapuka Island of the Cook Islands with an estimated age of about 350 years. Luomala (1960) suggested that an investigation of the breed of Polynesian dogs would provide clues to the history of migration of the Polynesians, who domesticated the dogs. The Pukapuka dog skeleton is morphologically similar to the dingo and suggests some racial or economical interchange among Australia and Polynesian islands before contact with western civilization.