Oszillierende Weltmodelle versus Urknallmodelle. Das oszillierende Weltmodell Friedmanns,die Ablehnung der Anfangssingularität durch russische Kosmologen und die Zustimmung der katholischen Kirche zur Urknalltheorie Lemaîtres und Hawkings

The Russian mathematician and physicist Friedmann and the Belgian priest and physicist Lemaître were the first to consider non‐static world models in the framework of Einstein's general theory of relativity. Friedmann seemed to favour a periodic, oscillating cosmological model. His investigations were taken up by Russian cosmologists in the 1960s. They stated that the singularities present in many of the Friedmann‐Lemaître cosmological models seemed to be artificial and were ascribed to the assumption of a highly symmetric distribution of cosmic matter. Their disapproval of singularities seems to be in accord with Soviet ideological requirements during that time like atheism and dialectic materialism. They had to retract their statements after Hawking had proved his singularity theorems and after the microwave background had been discovered. Hawking followed the line of thought which was initiated by Lemaître in the early 1930s. Lemaître had combined for the first time quantum physics and relativistic cosmology and had developed his idea of the primeval atom, a beginning of the universe in a dense state with just one quantum containing the whole mass of the universe. Pope Pius XII brought together this primeval atom and God as the Creator of the universe and declared in 1951 that big bang cosmology is compatible with the Bible. Not surprisingly Hawking was awarded the Pius XI medal by the Vatican in 1975 for his contributions to big bang cosmology.     

Historical coastline adjustment at MacVanes Pond Inlet, Eastern Prince Edward Island

Sea levels are rising throughout the Atlantic Provinces at present and this is expected to continue throughout this century, forcing general coastline retreat and adjustment. In this study, a part of the coastline of eastern Prince Edward Island is examined for changes during historical time (1784–1994) using maps and aerial photography. MacVanes Pond is located between Basin Head Harbour and South Lake, all three of which were once lagoons connected to the same tidal circulation system. Sand barrier retreat has closed the connection to Basin Head Harbour and it is now a separate body of water. Meanwhile, the location of a tidal inlet at MacVanes Pond has been strongly influenced by longshore drift and the inlet has closed, re‐opened to the northeast, and subsequently shifted to the southwest. Human activities in the area have previously been, and will continue to be, affected by sea level rise and transgression. Actuellement, le niveau de la mer s'élève dans la région des provinces de l'Atlantique et l'on prévoit que cette tendance se maintiendra tout au long du présent siècle, ce qui aura pour effet général de faire reculer le littoral et de le modifier. La présente étude examine une partie du littoral est de l'Île‐du‐Prince‐Édouard pour y déceler des changements qui se sont produits dans le temps (1784–1994) à partir de cartes et de photographies aériennes. L'étang MacVanes est situé entre le bassin Head‐Harbour et le lac South, trois plans d'eau qui étaient autrefois des lagunes reliées au même système de marée. Or, une barre de sable a fermé le lion avec le bassin Head‐Harbour, qui est maintenant une masse d'eau distincte. Entre‐temps, l'emplacement d'un goulet de marée à l'étang MacVanes a été grandement influencé par la dérive littorale, au point de se fermer pour se frayer une nouvelle ouverture au nord‐est et par la suite au sud‐ouest. Les activités humaines de cette région ont été affectées, et continueront de l'être, par l'élévation du niveau de la mer et sa transgression.     

The development and evolution of “cerebral thermometry”: The physiology underlying a nineteenth-century approach to cerebral localization and neurological diagnosis

ABSTRACT

Surface thermometers were developed in the latter half of the nineteenth century. From the 1850s through the 1880s, collaborations between physicians, research scientists, and instrument makers produced clear improvements in the technology to measure cranial surface temperatures, with development of self-registering mercury surface thermometers resistant to pressure and little influenced by ambient temperature, apparatus for recording cranial surface temperatures from multiple stations simultaneously, and development of thermoelectric apparatus. Physiologic studies of cranial surface thermometry were conducted over a quarter century from 1861 to 1886. Beginning in the 1860s Albers in Bonn, Germany, and Lombard at Harvard and later in England systematically investigated surface temperatures on the head using surface thermometers and thermoelectric apparatus; they demonstrated that head temperatures were variable over time and across individuals and were not clearly influenced by thinking or muscular contraction but were influenced by ambient air temperature. In 1880 Amidon in the United States claimed that cranial surface thermometry during exertion produced localized increases in surface temperature on the contralateral scalp in a specific pattern (“external motive areas”) indicating underlying brain areas responsible for each movement. Amidon’s results were not reproduced by experienced physiologists in England or France. Contemporaries recognized that significant technical and practical problems limited the accuracy and reliability of cranial surface thermometry. Physiological studies of cranial surface thermometry ended in the mid 1880s, although some clinicians who were early advocates promoted its use in clinical contexts into the early twentieth century.     

The development and evolution of “cerebral thermometry”: Clinical applications of a nineteenth-century approach to cerebral localization and neurological diagnosis

ABSTRACT

Surface thermometers were developed in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In 1877, Broca, already famous for his contributions to the cerebral localization of nonfluent aphasia, presented his first clinical observations on cranial surface temperatures: In two cases, cranial surface temperatures were decreased over a middle cerebral artery infarction, and increased in surrounding areas, which Broca attributed to “compensatory hyperaemia.” As Broca made apparent in a later report in 1879, he had used a “thermometric crown,” an apparatus consisting of six to eight large-reservoir mercury thermometers strapped against the head. Following Broca’s report, American neurologists reported cases in which cranial surface temperatures were increased either locally over a superficial brain tumor or globally with a cerebral abscess. Despite promising anecdotal reports, contemporaries recognized that significant technical and practical problems limited its accuracy, reliability, and clinical utility. Advocates never demonstrated that this technology provided significant marginal benefit to the medical history and physical examination. The technique fell out of fashion before 1900, though some early advocates promoted it into the early twentieth century. It was ultimately replaced by more effective technologies for cerebral localization and neurological diagnosis.