Messen und Zählen. Die Herstellung des normalen Menschen als Maß der Gesundheit

The emergence of a ‘norm of normalcy’ in 19th century laboratories and hospitals was in no way simply a byproduct of the scientific search for knowledge. It was instead closely associated with expectations of social egalitarianism which merged with the moral economy of a new scientific objectivity. The establishment of normal people as a valid measure for a population socially divided and segregated in estates was thus an essential element of the processes of social formation which created our modern society.     

“Die wissenschaftliche Ausbildung des Arztes ist eine Culturfrage …”. Über das Verhältnis von Wissenschaftsanspruch,Bildungsprogramm und Praxis der Medizin

The article shows that the elite, nationalistic and imperial mentality of German medicine in the second half of the nineteenth century was closely connected to its aim to be understodd as a natural science. With this in view leading representatives of German medicine propagated a scientific approach to man and nature instead of the traditional values of humanistic education (“Bildung”). One of the most important consequences of the new scientific ideal in medicine — integration in governmental planning, the change in professionel status of doctors, the increasing tendeny to recognize biologistic ideologies — was the loss of the medical ideal of the ars medica, a subject which has not received sufficient thematic attention. This theme is explored in the third part of the article.     

Die Komplementarität von interner und externer Wissenschaftsgeschichte

In studies of the history of science two apparently diverging ‘ideal types’ can be distinguished. The internal analysis relies on methodology and on the philosophy of science and concentrates on the cognitive system and on the sequence of theories. The external analysis relies on sociology, the history of institutions, biographies, etc. and concentrates on the social system and on the interrelationship between science and society. Neither of the two approaches can claim to cover the whole truth and to give the only possible (causal) explanation, The cognitive content of scientific theories and the social process of bringing about and using them are by their very nature complementary.     

Die Französische Revolution im Spiegelbild. Die Reaktion der deutschen Ärzte auf die Revolution und das Revolutionieren

The German physicans and medical scientists reacted to the French Revolution in several ways, if you judge only from the medical literature:

• 1 At the beginning of the French Revolution, the scientist answered with still silence, whereas the young intellectual generation was filled with enthusiasm. But after the battle of Valmy (1792) this enthusiasm vanished and they resigned to execute an equal revolution in Germany.
• 2 When, in the middle of the 1790s, scientists gave commentaries on revolutionary acts, they despised the revolution itself. This could only destroy the old – and even better – order. They argued that you can have recourse to science to avoid the political and socially deranged situation.
• 3 This rejection against the political revolution was combined with a rejection against the influences of natural philosophy on medicine. Schelling's philosophy plays the role as an scientific revolution with all negative aspects like the political one. In this sense, the science in the old scientific manner has to be an accepted refuge.
• 4 But in this retreat they developed ideas of German national science to conteract on the French influences. The consciousness of nationalism was supported by the scientists of romantic movements.
• 5 The following degree is characterized by a mental leap. Now, they argued, it will never be necessary to revolutionize the medicine: in science all the ideals of French Revolution are realized – freedom, equality and fraternity.
• 6 Consequently, only in a formal sense did they respond to the French Revolution and so they avoided recognizing, that science is influenced politically and also science itself exercises on in a political way.

     

Von der Naturgeschichte zur Naturwissenschaft Die Naturwissenschaften als eigenes Fachgebiet an der Universität Jena

Since 1790, the term Naturwissenschaften occurs in the lecture lists of the University of Jena published in the Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung of Jena. Naturwissenschaften is used as a title for lectures previously listed under the headings of Philosophie or Naturgeschichte. The introduction of the concept of Naturwissenschaften is interesting for several reasons: Firstly, at that time it is not the usual label in this context, and one therefore has to ask whether it already implies the connotations that are associated with the modern concept of Naturwissenschaften, i. e. science in the modern sense. Secondly, the lecture lists of the University of Jena give insight into the various changes in the established ordering scheme for academic lectures that lead to the introduction of the term Naturwissenschaften, thus contributing to a better understanding of both the history of this concept and of the development of the university faculties as we know them. A close look at the concept of Naturwissenschaften as it was used around 1800 may, thirdly, help to understand the use made of this concept in philosophy, especially in the philosophy of nature of this period.     

Über die Aufhänge- und Anzeigevorrichtung der ägyptischen Waage der Pharaonenzeit

A number of different and partly contradictory interpretations about the suspension and the indicator system of the ancient Egyptian balance has been given so far. In this article previous explanations of these devices are presented and critically considered; at the same time the balance of the Egyptians is included in the complete evolution of this instrument. Based on original Egyptian colour drawings on papyrus taken from the Book of the Death and considering weighing techniques, it is stated that all interpretations given so far are not capable of providing a satisfactory explanation of the function of these devices. The interpretation given already in 1888 by Sir Flinders Petrie comes closest to the real function of the indicator system: According to his assumption the device consisted of a solid pointer attached to the beam, in relation to which a plumbline was observed after the oscillations had stopped. This interpretation, however, has to be varied or to be complemented by taking into consideration the special drawing technique of the ancient Egyptians: Processes were drawn in a reproduction technique which consisted in the simultaneous combination of a top view and a side view. A new hypotheses about the function of the suspension and the indicator system of the ancient Egyptian balance is presented, which has the advantage of agreeing completely with the Egyptian drawing technique and which, in addition, ensures optimum precision of the weighing procedure.     

Reine und angewandte Chemie Die Entstehung einer neuen Wissenschaftskonzeption in der Chemie der Aufklärung

In its attempt to achieve acknowledgement and support as a true science and academic discipline eighteenth-century chemistry experienced that the traditional distinction between theory and practice, respectively between science and art, was an incriminating heritage and did not longer conform to the way chemists saw themselves. In order to substitute the former, socially judging classification into theoretical science and practical art, J. G. Wallerius from Uppsala coined the term pure and applied chemistry in 1751. The idea behind this new conception was that it ought to be chemistry's research aim and not the kind of work, be it manual or intellectual, which was to decide about its branches and their dignity. The change in orientation which took place during the eighteenth century, and which is symbolized by the new dichotomy “pure and applied”, led towards a revaluation of the utilitarian aspects of chemistry. Its historical roots reach back to a long and fruitful cooperation of, and interaction between chemistry and economy, which was reinforced by the Stahlian tradition in Germany and Scandinavia. Subsequently, it was its strong economic bias that helped chemistry to become institutionalized and accepted as an academic discipline distinct from the medico-pharmaceutical profession. The analysis of this change of attitudes, behaviour and institutional pattern suggests that, at least during the period of institutionalization of this particular discipline, social structures and the intrinsic scientific contents are so tightly interrelated, that any division into “internal”, cognitive developments (facts, theory and subject-matter) and “external” conditions (social context and stategies of institutionalization) would be artificial, since they both constitute the scientific community as a context of argumentation and action.     

Zur frühen Geschichte der Paläocheloniologie von Schaumburg‐Lippe. Die Rolle des Gymnasial‐Professors Max Ballerstedt in der Naturwissenschaft

A survey is given on some new aspects of the early history to the palaeochelonology in Schaumburg‐Lippe (Northern Germany). The very slow development of this is good reconstructable on base of authentic estates. It is the first time to made such a nearly complete reconstruction.     

Die Rezeption der humanistischen Gedächtnislehre bei Luther: Natur,Kunst und Konfessionen

Iconoclasm is one of the central characteristic of the reformation movement. In several books it was argued that there was a connection between iconoclasm and the interpretation of nature as a language and as a text since about 1600. This article discusses the artist as a creator in Renaissance culture. It shows the reaction of Luther to this concept and to iconoclasm, focussing on the connection between the Lutheran control of pictures and images and his conception of the mind and of memory on the one hand and of creatures as images and natural history on the other. In Lutheran context the book of nature was a book made of images as signs of the word of God.     

Die Entwicklung der Sozialgeschichte der modernen Mathematik und Naturwissenschaft und die Frage nach dem sozialen Raum zwischen Disziplin und Wissenschaftler

The use of the concept of social history of science is sketched in the Anglo‐American and the German discussions from the mid 1970s up to recent work. By presenting a ‘social map’ of a selected scientific community it is argued that between the categories of discipline and single scientist there exists a wide ‘social space’ of groups within which science is pursued. In adopting a milieu theoretic approach an ecology of science is proposed as a suitable extension of the social history of science.     

Pest,Stadt, Wissenschaft — Wechselwirkungen in oberitalienischen Städten vom 14. bis 17. Jahrhundert

After the Black Death of 1348 the Plague was not only the cause of personal disasters and individual despair, but was also of political and social significance. Each outbreak of the epidemic implied a crisis for the community with crucial consequences for trade, jurisdiction, administration, executive powers and for food supply. The faith in authority by the leading university medics was tragic, as they subscribed to the hippocratic-galenical humoral pathology and to the miasmatic theory. On the other hand, municipal authorities, from the 14th century onwards responded to the epidemic in a pragmatic manner, isolating the sick, carrying out checks, imposing trade embargos and special epidemic laws. From the 15th century onwards people were also put under quarantine. The medics' role, their relationship with the government and their tendency to play down the diagnosis will be discussed at length, together with the questionable tradition of the Regimina pestis.     

Die Astrologie der Antike

This survey of classical astrology is in three parts: a) a summary of its rich and eventful history from the Babylonians to the Renaissance; b) the methods of calculation which remained the same throughout the period, based on the planets, the zodiac and the “twelve houses”; c) an analysis of astrological thought, which is quite different from any modern approach; providing a rigid interpretation of the universe, it granted confort and security. It presents a curious combination of religion and science: the physics is the one forwarded by the stoïcs, with an equal balance of the four elements, and the microcosmic economy within the soul representing the macrocosmic one; but such a determinism is in contradiction with the Stoics' sense of responsability which presupposes free will.     

Experientia contra experientiam. Religiöse ‘innere’ und ‘äußere’ Erfahrung im Spätmittelalter und im Übergang zur Neuzeit.

In the late Middle Ages there are two different conceptions of experience: a non-religious, exterior experience, derived from physical perceptions: the Aristotelian conception, and a religious, interior experience: the conception of monastic theology, represented by Bernhard of Clairvaux. In the transition from Middle Ages to modern times the distinction between exterior and interior experience is transferred into the religious experience.     

Die Apotheke als Forschungsstätte

From the beginning, next to their essential function of preparing drugs pharmacies also served as educational institutions, in particular for the instruction of their own rising generation. Especially between 1750 and 1850 pharmacies in addition were engaged in scientific research. It were basically experimental‐analytic chemistry and after 1800 mainly phytochemistry which inspired numerous apothecaries to do corresponding work in their laboratories. For many of those scientifically ambitious pharmacists, however, pharmacies were merely a starting point in their professional career. More or less rapidly, they turned to other places of activity which were organizationally, socially, and intellectually of higher standards (e.g. academies or universities). There, they were better able to realize their research interests frequently roused and shaped in the pharmacies. When around 1850 chemistry as an autonomous discipline definitely was established at the universities and competition became increasingly apparent through the rising chemical industry, the former meaning and function of pharmacies as places of scientific research disappeared more and more and was completely lost about 1900.     

Eine naturwissenschaftliche Forschungsbibliothek des 18. Jahrhunderts: Die Bibliothek der ‚Naturforschenden Gesellschaft’︁ zu Jena

The ?Naturforschende Gesellschaft’?, founded in 1793, proved instrumental for the development of science at the University of Jena around 1800. Its library can be considered as one of its most important facilities provided for research and for the education of students. Since this library has been preserved almost without losses, we can ask whether this library served the purpose of a research library in the newly established field of ?science’?. In consequence, the role of scientific societies and the genesis of specialised libraries in the area of science can be investigated in an exemplary case, with implications for the concept of scientific research around 1800.     

„Und nur die Zukunft wird Klarheit bringen!”︁Der Fall des Biomediziners Jacques Benveniste aus dem Jahr 1988 im Blickfeld der wissenschaftlichen Publikationsorgane und der Laienpresse

Scientific disputes on the objectivity of research results are an integral part of the collective production of knowledge. One motivation to study cases of scientific controversy is the attempt to discover general patterns in the behaviour of participants and institutions involved in such controversies. Yet, for there to be a controversy, one must assume an important amount of social interaction, so much so that it renders it an essentially social phenomenon, which is accessible to historical study. Cases of obvious scientific fraud, in addition, are neither clear‐cut nor rare and the mere accusation of scientists by their peers frequently constitutes considerable examples of scientific debate. Together with this, it is often assumed that publication organs play a dominant role in directing the lines of scientific controversy, but their institutional significance and the task of individual editors remain widely unexplored. The present article studies the prominent Nature affair of the Parisian biomedical scientist Jacques Benveniste, both, from a perspective on scientific fraud and on the beginning and closure of scientific disputes. One of the most remarkable features of Benveniste's antibody dilution experiments was that they stroke at the foundations of modern physical and biomedical sciences. Could recent history of science actually resolve the case of the so‐called ‘memory of water’ phenomenon?     

An der Schwelle zum Atomzeitalter. Die Vorgeschichte der Entdeckung der Kernspaltung im Dezember 1938

On the Threshold of the Atomic Age: The History of the Discovery of Nuclear Fission in December 1938: - Fifty years ago in mid-December 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Chemistry discovered nuclear fission by demonstrating, using chemical methods, the presence of barium in the decay products of neutron-irradiated uranium. This essay points out the constellation of conditions and prerequisites (Historischer Erfahrungsraum/“historical field of experience”) which led to the discovery of nuclear fission, and was constituted by specific components (“presentabilia”) both internal and external to science in general and to atomic research in particular. A decisive role was played by the constellation of the three members of the Berlin team and their personal situations under the political conditions of the 1930s. Further “presentabilia” were the institutional, instrumental and disciplinary conditions under which the team worked and the methods available to the individual members of the team. It was very important that some of the “presentabilia” were “not-present” to the members of the team. In particular, after Meitner's departure from Berlin Hahn and Strassmann had no access to methods and tools for proving the presence of alpha rays; nothing was known of the existence of actinides; no cyclotron or other source of neutrons more productive than those already in use in Berlin, Paris and Rome was available; it was very important that Strassmann and Hahn were not convinced of the strong validity of the resonance process induced by thermal neutrons; etc.