Neurobiographies: writing lives in the history of neurology and the neurosciences

This essay surveys the present state of biographical writing in the history of neurology and neuroscience. Individual lives play a significant role in practitioner-historians' narratives, whereas academic historians tend to be more nonindividualistic and a-biographical. Autobiographies by neurologists and neuroscientists, and particularly autobiographical collections, are problematic as an historical genre. Neurobiographies proper are published with several aims in mind: some are written as literary entertainment, others as contributions to a cultural and social history of the neurosciences. Eulogy, panegyrics and commemoration play a great role in neurobiographical writing. Some biographies, finally, are written to provide role-models for young neuroscientists, thus reviving the classical, Plutarchian biographical tradition. Finally, a recent cooperative biography of Charcot is mentioned as an example of how the biographical genre can help overcome the alleged dichotomy between the historiographies of practitioner-historians and academic historians.     

Historiography: an introduction

This introduction precedes the four papers given in October 2000 in Copenhagen on analysing problems in the history of the neurosciences. The term historiography can be defined in different ways but means the study, and not simply the writing, of history. Although it goes back two millennia, it is a rapidly developing field as illustrated by the subsequent contributions.     

Die beiden fassungen des dkar chag zum Derge-Kanjur

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Die verwendung des part. präs. als konditional im pali

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Between Worlds: Considering Celtic feminine identities in The Secret of Roan Inish

This article explores the ways in which Celtic oral traditions concerning the 'place' of women are replayed within a contemporary textual form, namely the 1995 film, The Secret of Roan Inish. Through an examination of the representation of gender relations within the film, we address how the incorporation of mythic elements is intended to provide a sense of female 'empowerment'. While the film has been praised for its positive portrayal of Irish Celtic women, we suggest that the various qualities of strength associated with the female lead characters are expressed within the context of a discursive framework that valorizes certain roles and behavior as 'natural' at the expense of other modes of life, and, further, ties the construction of subject identities into a fixed, or essentialist, notion of 'place'. Rather than presume that this filmic vision of Irish Celtic feminine identities is intrinsically regressive, however, we note that in our act of viewing Roan Inish those identities are recontextualized further in, we hope, a progressive, post-structuralist manner.     

Successful cervical disc surgery by Professor Angelo Chiasserini Sr of Rome in 1937: a historical case report

Although resection of cervical "chondromas" had been reported since the late twenties, the true nature of this condition was not recognized at that time. This paper reports a case of "inferior cervical radiculitis by herniation of nucleus pulposus" operated by Prof. Angelo Chiasserini Sr, one of the founders of Italian neurosurgery, in January 1937. To our knowledge this represents one of the first examples of correct etiopathogenetic interpretation of cervical disc disease. Surgery was followed by excellent recovery, a quite remarkable result in those times. The case history is reported in detail, and a short historical sketch of cervical disc disease is depicted.     

Transportation Networks and the Location of Human Activities

The impact of transportation networks on the location of human activities is a surprisingly neglected topic in economic geography. Using the simple plant location problem, this paper investigates such an impact in the case of a few idealized networks. It is seen that a grid network tends to foster a dispersed pattern of activities, while the center of a radial network acts as an attractor. The case of two economies characterized by different network configurations that form a custom union is then analyzed. It is shown that the structural properties of the networks still hold, though some locations are pulled toward the common border. This suggests that no such relocation should be expected within the European Union if the state members endorse similar fiscal and social policies after the formation of the single market.     

THE SCIENTIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL JET-LIKE ARTEFACTS

Jet has been widely used in the past for jewellery but was just one of a range of black lithic materials employed. When worked into small objects these materials can be visually indistinguishable, yet discrimination is important because of the restricted occurrence of jet. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a rapid non-destructive discriminatory technique, but not all samples are clearly classified, and inhomogeneity may pose problems. A reassessment of the use of XRF is reported. Other techniques considered include electron spin resonance, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and X-radiography. These were tested on geological materials to define an effective methodology for archaeological material. The recommended approach is a combination of XRF and X-radiography, although preliminary Fourier transform infrared results showed promise. The X-ray techniques were tested on Romano-British assemblages from Catterick and Stanwick.