On the history and geography of the International Conference of Historical Geographers

The latest meeting in the series of International Conferences of Historical Geographers was held in Kyoto in 2009. The series originated in a meeting of Canadian and British historical geographers held in Kingston, Ontario, in 1975. Four subsequent meetings held in Britain, Canada and the USA saw an increasingly international participation and the sixth meeting, held in 1986, was accorded the title of the Sixth International Conference of Historical Geographers. Eight further such conferences have been held since then, some in locations well beyond Britain and North America. This paper records the basic historical and geographical characteristics of all of the meetings between 1975 and 2009.     

突尼斯 鲜花下的废墟

突尼斯城不远的杜加古城遗址,看着那些石头一粒粒破碎下来,曾经蔚为壮观的古罗马剧场暴露在阳光和风雨中,坍塌的残垣上,高低不平的砖块结构从斑驳的灰泥表面下挤了出来。然而,我的注意力却被墙角处蔓延开去的常春藤点缀着的野菊花、紫罗兰花吸引过去,那些壮实的野花向着天空怒放,灿烂,顽强,站在鲜花丛中,从来没有一个废墟遗址像现在这样打动我……     

Macedonia and the Coming of Rome

EUGENE N. BORZA. In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. Pp. xvii, 333.

N.G.L. HAMMOND and F.W. WALBANK. A History of Macedonia: Volume III: 336-167 BC. New York: The Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 1988. Pp. xxx, 654.

PETER GREEN. Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Pp. xxiii, 970.     

Prouille,Madrid, Rome: the evolution of the earliest Dominican Instituta for nuns

The lifestyles of the three earliest Dominican women's communities were formulated according to their specific historical conditions and exigencies during the years 1206–21. Initially, the women associated with the preaching mission of Diego of Osma and Dominic Guzman were based at Prouille in the Languedoc and followed the Augustinian Rule. The development of the first instituta for Dominican nuns was the result of 15 years of overseeing the lives of the sisters. However, enclosure, and the institutional requirement for its observance, only came about in 1220 with the establishment of San Sisto, when St Dominic wrote an instituta specifically intended for a cloistered nunnery. This paper retraces and elucidates the historical development of the first Dominican instituta for women, and considers the remarkable choice of the Augustinian Rule as the basis for an enclosed women's order.     

Chance, creativity, and the discovery of the nerve growth factor

This essay analyzes the history of the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) discovery, relating some of the principles of the theory of scientific creativity to the cognitive and personal qualities of the scientists that participated in the discovery, particularly Rita Levi-Montalcini and Viktor Hamburger. The discovery of NGF is especially attractive for the history of science as it involves chance, luck, creativity, and some extraordinary scientists.