Five scientists at Johns Hopkins in the modern evolution of neuroscience

Neuroscience's evolution at Johns Hopkins, from neurophysiology to the new field of neurobiology, though unplanned, was rapid and important. Beginning in 1933 when Philip Bard became professor of physiology at Johns Hopkins, members of his department concentrated initially on neuroanatomical control of placing reactions and sexual activity. Vernon Mountcastle, extending available techniques, discovered vertical somato-sensory columns in the 1950's. Stephen Kuffler, who arrived at Hopkins in 1947, was a pioneer in single unit microelectrode recording techniques. He soon attracted scientists from all over the world to his laboratory. Among them, Torsten Wiesel and David Hubel discovered vertical neuronal columns in the visual cortex. During several decades at Johns Hopkins, these five scientists set extremely high scientific standards and established a climate of inquiry in which ideas were shared and young scientists encouraged. They contributed significantly to the emerging discipline of neuroscience.     

世纪之交中国大陆学术界关于华侨华人的研究

世纪之交中国大陆学术界关于华侨华人的研究进入一个新的阶段。研究队伍的发展和许多有代表性的著作的出版 ,说明中国华侨华人研究不但在学术成果的数量和质量上已有显著的提高 ,而且研究领域扩大 ,视角拓宽 ,华侨华人研究作为一门新兴学科正在崛起。但中国大陆学者须看到与国际学术界的差距 ,加强对华侨华人的研究 ,在新的世纪把中国大陆的海外华人研究推向国际学术领域的前沿。     

Of Other Spaces: Women's colleges at the turn of the nineteenth century in the UK

This article explores the first British university-associated women's colleges at the turn of the nineteenth century. Drawing on Foucault, the article looks into the dualistic opposition between private and public, as well as women's attempts to transcend this dichotomy. In theorising women's colleges as Foucauldian heterotopias, spaces in the interstices of power relations and dominant social structures, the author focuses on the interplay of contradicting discourses and strong power relations within these women's colleges. In this light, the author considers the ways women resisted, negotiated, but also compromised in their attempt to shape their lives and invent new ways of being in the world.     

Monastic archives and the law: legal strategies at Farfa and Monte Amiata at the turn of the millennium

This article investigates two controversies that reveal the deeply intertwined nature of legal strategies and archival practices at the monasteries of Farfa and Monte Amiata around the turn of the millennium. It argues that the protagonists of these cases, abbots knowledgeable in law and the history of their monasteries, pursued markedly historical legal strategies: legal strategies that looked to, manipulated, and, above all, contextualized, archival documents in order to make legal arguments. This sheds light on early medieval monastic legal culture in north-central Italy and provides insights into the rationale for monastic forgeries of documentary materials at Monte Amiata.     

Notes on Templar personnel and government at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries

The Hospital of St John is thought to have been in various respects in a rather more healthy condition than the order of the Temple in the late thirteenth century, and comparisons and contrasts between the two orders have recently been made, often to the detriment of the Templars. This view is examined with reference to recruiting, the role of sergeants, ignorance among brothers, provincial administration, central government, and roles after the collapse of the crusader states. The argument is advanced that the Temple was not in a noticeably worse state than the Hospital and that on many issues the similarities between the two orders are more marked than the differences.     

Notes on Templar personnel and government at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries

The Hospital of St John is thought to have been in various respects in a rather more healthy condition than the order of the Temple in the late thirteenth century, and comparisons and contrasts between the two orders have recently been made, often to the detriment of the Templars. This view is examined with reference to recruiting, the role of sergeants, ignorance among brothers, provincial administration, central government, and roles after the collapse of the crusader states. The argument is advanced that the Temple was not in a noticeably worse state than the Hospital and that on many issues the similarities between the two orders are more marked than the differences.     

Nobel laureates at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn: phenomenology and paths to discovery in neuroscience

The practice of science usually involves more than a solitary genius in a solitary room, coping with the problem of her/his life. From the second half of the 19th century onwards, scientific research, especially in the field of the Natural Sciences, has grown into a more and more complex practice, which often entangles very special needs, in terms of research objects, techniques, sources, and perspectives. A few special places, such as the Stazione Zoologica di Napoli, have represented in this period the focal points of an ever growing international scientific network, promoting independent research, exchange and diffusion of novel practices and techniques and unrestricted confrontation. The so-called "Naples experience" has been cited by a large number of renowned scientists of the last two centuries as a key moment in their scientific life. Here we have tried to test it against the experience of three great scientists par excellence, i.e. three Nobel laureates (T. H. Morgan, Otto Warburg, J. D. Watson). The different experiences they have had at Naples represent, in our view, three different moments of the professional life of almost every scientist. Therefore, we have chosen to present them as a phenomenology. The final section is dedicated to a survey of the Zoological Station's contribution to neurosciences, especially to the Naples experience of the Nobel Prize winner Sir Bernard Katz and his assistant Ricardo Miledi, between 1965 and 1970. Their work on the squid at Naples allowed probing and quantitative refinement of results already obtained on different animals and contributed to reinforce the long lasting neurophysiological tradition of the institute.     

世纪之交中国边疆史地研究的回顾与展望

中国边疆史地学,作为一门新的、综合性的学科,在20世纪90年代以来取得了突飞猛进的发展。这是时代的需要,也是从事研究的学不懈努力的结果。回顾90年代以来中国边疆史地研究,展望21世纪,在世纪之交的今天更是具有重大的意义。     

Historiography and historians of neuroscience: towards diversity in the ISHN

This article introduces and critiques the historiographical tradition of the history of the neurosciences as it has been established in the International Society for the History of the Neurosciences (ISHN). The founding members of the ISHN were practitioner-historians, practitioners of the neurosciences with an interest in the great moments, ideas and controversies in the history of their field. The historiographical precedent set by these clinician-historians emphasized those aspects of history most interesting to them. Academic historians bring a different approach to the history of neurosciences, particularly an interest in studying the intellectual and cultural contexts of both the inherited and the forgotten ideas about the nervous system. Their approach to history has not been well presented in the ISHN, in part because the current historiographical tradition does not address their interests. This article highlights the methodological and epistemological differences between academic and practitioner-historians and discusses the difficulties that other historical societies have faced in trying to bring them together. The article then suggests ideas for symposia that might facilitate an interdisciplinary dialogue and a revised historiographical tradition that speaks to the needs of both academic and historians and practitioner historians.     

Women in neuroscience (WIN): the first twenty years

Women in Neuroscience (WIN) is an international organization whose major goal is to promote the professional advancement of women neuroscientists. To this end, WIN facilitates contacts and communication among women working in neuroscience, and organizes appropriate activities at the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting. WIN was created in 1980, when despite major changes and advances in 'equal opportunities', women were still not achieving a proportionate level of success in the subdiscipline of neurosciences. In 1980, women made up 40 to 50% of entering classes in medical schools or graduate programs, but often comprised only 5 to 15% of leadership in respective organizations. Although there had been women elected to serve as SfN presidents, council, and committee members, women were under-represented in other positions of the Society, such as symposium and session chairs. There was an even lesser degree of representation in leadership positions at universities and medical schools in terms of full professorships, chairs, and program directors, as well as on editorial boards, advisory boards, and councils. Over the years, WIN has worked with success toward increasing the participation of women in neuroscience.     

Ivane Beritashvili: founder of physiology and neuroscience in Georgia

This paper is dedicated to one of the outstanding scientists of the twentieth century--Ivane Beritashvili. He was a Georgian physiologist who graduated from St. Petersburg University and worked under the supervision of N. Wedensky. He founded the Department of Physiology and the Institute of Physiology at the University of Tbilisi, Georgia. Among his numerous contributions was the discovery of the rhythmical course of reciprocal inhibition in spinal reflexes, the first demonstration of the excitatory and inhibitory reactions in the brain stem neuropil. But Beritashvili's most significant contribution was the discovery of the mediation of animal psychoneural behavior by image-driven memory.     

The early history of the neuroscience of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Research on the neurobiology and pharmacotherapy of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown exponentially since 1980. A reasonable question is whether this research has improved our understanding and treatment of ADHD. This article describes relevant developments that took place roughly between 1900 and 1970. During this time, the efficacy of stimulant therapy for the disorder was established and the symptoms of ADHD were linked to many possible nervous system disorders including in the brain-stem, reticular formation, diencephalon, basal ganglia, frontal lobes, and cortex. In 1970, the catecholamine hypothesis of ADHD was proposed. It is concluded that early theories about the neurobiologic basis of ADHD anticipated core ideas of modern theory.