Cordiform Maps since the Sixteenth Century: The Legacy of Nineteenth‐Century Classificatory Systems

The heart‐shaped, or cordiform, maps of the sixteenth century, including those by Oronce Fine, Peter Apian and Gerard Mercator, have long intrigued historians. Most writers have considered the heart shape a product only of mathematics, but some have recently offered other interpretations for the use of the heart. A classificatory system devised by d'Avezac in 1863, however, has impeded our understanding of the cordiform map, particularly in the matter of what is considered to be such a map. The nature of his classification and its reception by other writers since the late nineteenth century are examined in order to elucidate new directions for the study of the use of the heart shape in sixteenth‐century cartography.     

The neuroscience of Helmholtz and the theories of Johannes Müller. Part 2: Sensation and perception

In this, our continuation paper on Helmholtz and Müller, we examine Helmholtz's contributions to sensation and perception, with emphasis on his extension and modification of Müller's theory of specific nerve energies. The material is again presented in biographical-chronological context. We also examine Helmholtz's views on depth and space perception, and his empirical theory of knowledge, which are also compared to Müller's views. It will be shown that Helmholtz remained stimulated by the thoughts and doctrines of Johannes Müller in the sensory-perceptual part of his career, which began early in the 1850s and ended with his death. Nevertheless, Helmholtz's own experiments and new discoveries by others sometimes led him to quite different conclusions.     

Printed Maps of the District and State of Maine, 1793–1860: An Illustrated and Comparative Study. By Edward V. Thompson

Mapamundi. The Catalan Atlas of the year 1375. Edited with commentary by Georges Grosjean. Dietikon‐Zurich : Urs Graf Verlag, 1978. Colour facsimile on 6 panels. Pp. 93.

Vesconte Maggiolo: Atlante nautico del 1512 (Der Seeatlas vom Jahre 1512). Edited with commentary by Georges Grosjean. Dietikon‐Zurich : Urs Graf Verlag, 1979. Colour facsimile. Pp. 88.

La géographie de la renaissance (1420–1620). By Numa Broc. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, 1980. (Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques: Mémoires de la Section de Géographie, no. 9). Pp. 252.

Wall‐maps of the 16th and 17th centuries. A series of full‐size facsimiles of wall‐maps published in the Low Countries. Edited by Günther Schilder. Amsterdam: Nico Israel, 1977‐. 1: The world map of 1624 by Willem Jansz. Blaeu and Jodocus Hondius (1977). Pp. 17, pl. A‐U. 2: The world map of 1669 by Jodocus Hondius the elder and Nicolaas Visscher (1978). Pp. 35, pl. 20.

The compleat plattmaker. Essays on chart, map, and globe making in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Edited by Norman]. W. Thrower. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978. Pp. 241.

County atlases of the British Isles 1579–1810. A bibliography compiled by ?R. A. Skelton. Folkestone: Dawson, 1978. Pp. viii+262.

Christopher Saxton and Tudor map‐making. By Sarah Tyacke and John Huddy. London: The British Library, 1980. Pp.64.

The A to Z of Elizabethan London. Compiled by Adrian Prockter and Robert Taylor. Introductory notes by John Fisher. Lympne: Harry Margary, in association with the Guildhall Library, London, 1979. Pp. 62.

Plan of the parish of St. Marylebone in the county of Middlesex, by Peter Potter, c. 1832. London: Westminster City Libraries in association with the St. Marylebone Society, 1979. Pp. 2, 6 sheets.

Yorkshire maps and map‐makers. By Arthur Raistrick. Clapham, North Yorkshire: Dalesman Books, 1979. Pp. 72.

Ireland from maps. Dublin: National Library of Ireland, 1980. Pp. 20, 16 sheets.

Abriss der Kartographie des Fürstentums Kalmbach‐Bayreuth. By Hans Vollet. Kulmbach: Stadtarchiv, 1977. Pp. 175. (Die Plassenburg. Schriften für Heimatforschung und Kulturpflege in Ostfranken, vol. 38).

Die Pläne von Berlin von den Anfängen bis 1950. By Paul Clauswitz and Lothar Zögner in collaboration with Elke Günther and Gudrun K. Zögner. Berlin: Verlag Richard Seitz, 1977. Pp. 241.

Romancero del topónimo fueguino. By Juan E. Belza. Buenos Aires: Instituto de Investigaciones historicas Tierra del Fuego, 1978. Pp. 239.

[Agrave] la découvert de la terre. Dix siécles de cartographie. Trèsors du Départment des Cartes et Plans (mai‐juillet 1979). Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, 1979. Pp. xvi + 122. Ill.     

The neuroscience of Helmholtz and the theories of Johannes Müller. Part 1: Nerve cell structure,vitalism, and the nerve impulse

Hermann Helmholtz made monumental contributions to the neural sciences in the second half of the nineteenth century. Among his earliest achievements were experiments that challenged vitalism, microscopic studies on the structure of the nerve cell and its processes, and the first reasonable estimates of the speed of nerve transmission based on physiological experiments. In this, the first of a two-part article, we review Helmholtz's early contributions in biographical context and with reference to Johannes Müller's own thoughts. We reveal how Johannes Müller, considered by many to be the greatest physiologist of the first half of the nineteenth century, helped to launch and shape Helmholtz's career. We also show that Helmholtz was only willing to accept some of his mentor's theories, even though he had great admiration for Müller. The point will be made that Helmholtz owed a great debt to Müller, but even from his student days in Berlin he was an independent thinker with his own agenda, and never his strict disciple.