Exploring Poetry with Cognitive Neuroscience: T.S. Eliot's ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’

Research that involves both neuroscience and art often attempts to explain the aesthetic experience of ‘beauty’ in visual art, and to define the function of art in neural terms; less has been written concerning the neural correlates of poetry reading. It is suggested that there are existing areas of study in neuroscience that may help elucidate how we enjoy literature beyond pure neuroaesthetics, such as research in creative problem-solving, knowledge-based pleasure, and music. This essay endeavours to bring together insights from both neuroscience and literature to shed light on how and why we take pleasure in interpreting T.S. Eliot's ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’. It is proposed that the pleasures of reading ‘Prufrock’ are ultimately associated with the ways in which the reader's expectations are confirmed or challenged. While the conclusions of this paper are intentionally constrained to a single poem, they are potentially generalisable.     

Aspects of the history of the nerves: Bell's theory, the Bell-Magendie law and controversy, and two forgotten works by P.W. Lund and D.F. Eschricht

The French physiologist Fran?ois Magendie showed, in 1822, that the anterior roots of the spinal nerves are motor and the posterior sensory. The English anatomist Charles Bell claimed the discovery, but his claim was based on republications of papers in which the wording had been altered to be consistent with Magendie's findings. Bell also appropriated Herbert Mayo's discoveries of the functions of the fifth and seventh cranial nerves. Bell repeated his claims in a number of influential publications, supported by his brothers-in-law John and Alexander Shaw. And for a century and a half, Bell figured as the discoverer in most references to the subject. During this period, several reviewers did go back to Bell's original papers, disclosing Bell's falsifications in the republished texts. But Magendie was not definitely acknowledged as the discoverer of the function of the spinal nerve roots until Cranefield's (1974) treatise. Cranefield, as did all other reviewers, overlooked accounts from 1825 by P.W. Lund and F.D. Eschricht. They critically reviewed Bell's early publications and reached conclusions similar to those of Cranefield concerning the roles of Bell and Magendie in the discovery of the function of the spinal nerve roots.     

‘Business as usual’: the impact of the Great War on the British ceramics industry

SUMMARY: The Great War had a dramatic impact upon the manufacturing industries and trade of the United Kingdom, and not least upon the ceramics industry. Manufacturers faced tremendous difficulties, including a massive decline in the overseas trade essential to their survival. At the same time, however, the war itself presented opportunities for the expansion and development of British ceramic manufacture and the repositioning of British ceramics in the global market. In August 1914 the British ceramics trade was in a precarious state, threatened both at home and in long-held overseas markets by low-priced porcelains from German and Austria–Hungary. However, the naval blockade of Continental ports which followed the outbreak of war denied these countries access to what had been an extremely lucrative overseas trade, leaving customers in many countries desperate for replacements for the goods no longer available. British manufacturers rose to the challenge, maintaining production, developing new lines and taking trade from its enemies. The war halted the steady decline of the British ceramics industry, but its post-war future was by no means secured.     

Das Verhältnis von Stadt und Fluss neu definieren: Die HafenCity Hamburg

Zusammenfassung  Immer mehr St?dte entdecken ihre Wasserlagen neu. Aus unsehnlichen Hafenvierteln oder ungenutzten Uferbereichen entstehen ganze Quartiere, die den St?dten mehr Attraktivit?t im Wettbewerb um die Gunst von Bewohnern, Investoren und Touristen verleihen sollen. In Deutschland erregt besonders das Projekt der HafenCity Hamburg Aufmerksamkeit: In Bezug auf die r?umliche und zeitliche Dimensionierung sowie das Investitionsvolumen ist es derzeit beispiellos. Mit dem Vorsitzenden der Gesch?ftsführung der HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg sprach Dipl.-Geogr. Ute Christina Bauer über Entstehung, Ziele und Fortgang des Vorhabens.     

Editorial

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