Crossing the Olentangy River: The Figure of the Earth and the Military-Industrial-Academic-Complex, 1947–1972

This paper explores the history of a unique assemblage of researchers in the geodetic and allied sciences organised at Ohio State University (OSU) in 1947 at the beginning of the Cold War. From about 1950 to 1970, the OSU geodetic sciences group was the most significant group of geodetic researchers in the world. Funded almost entirely by military and intelligence agencies, they pioneered the technologies, organised the research initiatives, ordered the data sets, and trained the generation of geodesists who eventually created the Cold War Figure of the Earth to both prosecute and prevent global nuclear war. They devised elaborate mechanisms to pursue in secrecy and isolation research that had hitherto been performed collaboratively and globally. They invented methods to maintain professional associations and protocols, both to distribute—and disguise—the fruits of their geodetic research. In accomplishing this, their work also undermined the basic hypothesis of isostasy that had been foundational to geodesy for the previous century.Fundamental progress in the geosciences and military and intelligence directives were inextricably linked during the Cold War, although the extent of their convergence has been masked by the security protocols organised to disguise it. With the declassification of key programmes underway, it is now both possible and necessary to substantially revise the history of Cold War-era geosciences and their associated technologies.     

WNT signaling,the development of the sympathoadrenal–paraganglionic system and neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a tumor of the sympathoadrenal system arising in children under 15 years of age. In Germany, NB accounts for 7% of childhood cancer cases, but 11% of cancer deaths. It originates from highly migratory progenitor cells that leave the dorsal neural tube and contribute neurons and glial cells to sympathetic ganglia, and chromaffin and supportive cells to the adrenal medulla and paraganglia. Clinically, histologically and molecularly, NBs present as extremely heterogeneous, ranging from very good to very poor prognosis. The etiology of NB still remains unclear and needs to be elucidated, however, aberrant auto- and paracrine embryonic cell communications seem to be likely candidates to initiate or facilitate the emergence, progression and regression of NB. The wingless-type MMTV integration site (WNT) family of proteins represents an evolutionary highly conserved signaling system that orchestrates embryogenesis. At least 19 ligands in the human, numerous receptors and co-receptors are known, which control not only proliferation, but also cell polarity, migration and differentiation. Here we seek to interconnect aspects of WNT signaling with sympathoadrenal and paraganglionic development to define new WNT signaling cues in the etiology and progression of NB.     

On “the application of science to science itself:” chemistry,instruments, and the scientific labor process

The “Instrumental Revolution” in chemistry refers to a transitional period in the mid-20th century during which sophisticated instrumentation based on physical principles was introduced to solve chemical problems. Historical and philosophical reflection on whether the revolution was a scientific one has been dominated by general models of scientific revolution, in particular, those proposed by Thomas Kuhn, I. B. Cohen and Ian Hacking. In this article I propose that the Industrial Revolution is a useful model for understanding the transformation wrought by the increasingly important role of machines in chemical research. Drawing on Marx's analysis of that event, I argue that that the Instrumental Revolution bears a striking resemblance to the industrial one. I offer grounds for thinking that the resemblance is not fortuitous, but rather reflects a general pattern of development involving the mechanization of the labor process. It is suggested that the cognitive consequences of radical changes in the means of production, as exemplified in the Instrumental Revolution, warrant the consideration of whether the latter is an instance of a kind of revolution in science rather than a singular episode.     

Bolzano,Cauchy and the “new analysis” of the early nineteenth century

Summary In this paper I discuss the development of mathematical analysis during the second and third decades of the nineteenth century; and in particular I assert that the well-known correspondence of new ideas to be found in the writings of Bolzano and Cauchy is not a coincidence, but that Cauchy had read one particular paper of Bolzano and drew on its results without acknowledgement. The reasons for this conjecture involve not only the texts in question but also the state of development of mathematical analysis itself, Cauchy both as personality and as mathematician, and the rivalries which were prevalent in Paris at that time.     

β-Methyl carboline,a benzodiazepine inverse agonist,attenuates the effect of triazolam on the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity

Summary The benzodiazepine triazolam, the benzodiazepine inverse agonist, -methyl carboline (-CCM) or both, were administered to adult male hamsters under conditions of constant light. When given alone, triazolam induced phase advances in the circadian activity rhythm of about 90 min, while -CCM when given alone, had no effect on phase of the activity rhythm. However, when triazolam and -CCM were given at the same time, the magnitude of the phase advances induced by triazolam were attenuated to about 30 min. These data, in conjunction with previous results, provide pharmacological evidence for a GABAergic system involved in the regulation of a central circadian pacemaker.     

The platypus in Edinburgh: Robert Jameson,Robert Knox and the place of the Ornithorhynchus in nature, 1821–24

The duck-billed platypus, or Ornithorhynchus, was the subject of an intense debate among natural historians in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Its paradoxical mixture of mammalian, avian and reptilian characteristics made it something of a taxonomic conundrum. In the early 1820s Robert Jameson (1774–1854), the professor of natural history at the University of Edinburgh and the curator of the University's natural history museum, was able to acquire three valuable specimens of this species. He passed one of these on to the anatomist Robert Knox (1791–1862), who dissected the animal and presented his results in a series of papers to the Wernerian Natural History Society, which later published them in its Memoirs. This paper takes Jameson's platypus as a case study on how natural history specimens were used to create and contest knowledge of the natural world in the early nineteenth century, at a time when interpretations of the relationships between animal taxa were in a state of flux. It shows how Jameson used his possession of this interesting specimen to provide a valuable opportunity for his protégé Knox while also helping to consolidate his own position as a key figure in early nineteenth-century natural history.     

A suggested mechanism for the action of choline esters on animal organs,inferred from a study of the effect of choline-,β-methylcholine-, and thiocholine-esters

Résumé Le mécanisme d'action des esters carboxyliques de la choline commence, probablement, par une hydrolyse enzymatique provoquée par une des cholinestérases. Les produits de l'hydrolyse réagissent avec un facteur inconnu, dont la spécificité est cependant définissable par la structure du résidu cholinique.     

Dopamine-β-hydroxylase,adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine in the venous blood of adrenal gland of man: A comparison with levels in the periphery of the circulation

Summary In 10 human subjects plasma dopamine--hydroxylase activity was found in the adrenal vein blood to be as high as in the periphery of the circulation. Adrenaline concentration in the adrenal vein blood was in the mean 170 times, noradrenaline concentration 11 times and dopamine concentration little higher than levels in the periphery.This study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Good, bad or offal? The evaluation of raw pancreas therapy and the rhetoric of control in the therapeutic trial, 1925

In 1925 a debate erupted in the correspondence columns of the British Medical Journal concerning the effectiveness of eating raw pancreas as a treatment for diabetes. Enthusiasts were predominantly general practitioners (GPs), who claimed success for the therapy on the basis of their clinical impressions. Their detractors were laboratory-oriented 'biochemist-physicians,' who considered that their own experiments demonstrated that raw pancreas therapy was ineffective. The biochemist-physicians consistently dismissed the GPs' observations as inadequately 'controlled'. They did not define the meaning of 'control' in this context, although it clearly did not have the term's present-day meaning of a trial employing an untreated comparison group of patients. Rather, the physician-biochemists' 'properly controlled' experiments involved careful regulation of their patients' diet and other environmental factors, and evaluation of the therapy's success through biochemical, rather than just clinical, criteria. However, my analysis suggests that these factors alone are inadequate to account for the biochemist-physicians' dismissal of the GPs' work as 'uncontrolled'. I suggest that the biochemist-physicians were deliberately exploiting the powerful rhetorical connotations of the term 'control'. Ultimately, they implied that only a trial which they themselves had conducted could be deemed 'adequately controlled'.     

The development of the Laplace transform, 1737–1937

This paper, the first of two, follows the development of theLaplace Transform from its earliest beginnings withEuler, usually dated at 1737, to the year 1880, whenSpitzer was its major, if himself relatively minor, protagonist. The coverage aims at completeness, and shows the state which the technique reached in the hands of its greatest exponent to that time,Petzval. A sequel will trace the development of the modern theory from its beginnings withPoincaré to its present form, due toDoetsch.     

Chemists Employed in the Manchester Area, 1902–1936

Contrary to previous views of an acute shortage of chemists at the beginning of the twentieth century, this study found that the number of chemists identifiable by name in the Manchester area was substantial, even in 1902. Moreover, the majority were qualified to some extent. The total number of chemists and their degree of formal qualification increased rapidly during the period 1902-36. Employment data demonstrate that they worked not only in the chemical industry, but in a wide range of manufacturing industry and commerce. Only a relatively small proportion was employed in education. Research chemists were active in the area in the late nineteenth century: by 1936, 28% of Manchester chemists recorded their job title as research chemist or research manager. If Manchester were typical of Britain as a whole the number of chemists employed in 1902 would greatly exceed previous estimates. More speculatively, the number of chemists in Britain in 1902 may even have been comparable to that in Germany.     

The in vivo expression of the globin genes of theβ cistron in γ-,δ-, andδβ-thalassemia heterozygotes

There is considerable evidence suggesting that the switch from to and chain production after birth is due, in part, to silencing of the genes by stage-specific factors which bind to their promoters and to the competition from the adult ( and ) genes for a common enhancer element located in the locus control region. As a consequence one can expect that the increased Hb F production in adults with hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin or -thalassemia is directed mainly by -globin genes in cis to the deletion(s) responsible for these conditions. Here we review data on heterozygotes with -, -, or -thalassemia, who also had an^AT mutation, in cis or in trans, which was used as a marker of gene expression. The results show that a deletion affecting adult genes favors the expression of genes in cis, while the deletion of a single gene does not affect the expression of the gene in cis but leads to a faster switch postnatally.     

In vitro inactivation of the neurotoxic action of β-bungarotoxin by the marine natural product,manoalide

Summary The irreversible neurotoxic action of -bungarotoxin (-BuTx) can be prevented by preincubation of the toxin with manoalide, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent. Manoalide was also found to inactivate purified phospholipase A₂ and thus prevent hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine. PLA₂ is a component found in several neurotoxic venoms and is also a rate limiting enzyme important in phospholipid metabolism and prostaglandin synthesis in man.This work is a result of research sponsored in part by NOAA-Department of Commerce under Sea Grant No. NA80AA-D-00120 and the California State Resources Agency R/MP-21. The US Government is authorized to produce and distribute reprints for governmental purposes. A preliminary report of aspects of this work appeared in Fedn Proc.42 (1983) 374. We also acknowledge the technical assistance of Dan Rohrer. Dr George Taborski's advice and assistance during the course of this work is gratefully acknowledged.J. C. de Freitas is a post-doctoral fellow supported by Fundacao de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (81/0263-9) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico (201.171/82), Brazil.     

Effects of N2, O2′-dibutyril cyclic GMP on the nucleoside phosphotransferase activity of the retina of the chick embryos

Summary In the retina of the chick embryo, 2 different forms of nucleoside phosphotransferase take part in the phosphorylation of thymidine. One is an unstable form with higher molecular weight. The other with lower m. wt is a stable form. This paper shows that N², O²-dibutyril cyclic GMP causes a marked decrement of the activity of the unstable nucleoside phosphotransferase.     

Open or closed? Dirac,Heisenberg, and the relation between classical and quantum mechanics

This paper describes a long-standing, though little known, debate between Dirac and Heisenberg over the nature of scientific methodology, theory change, and intertheoretic relations. Following Heisenberg's terminology, their disagreements can be summarized as a debate over whether the classical and quantum theories are “open” or “closed.” A close examination of this debate sheds new light on the philosophical views of two of the great founders of quantum theory.     

26-Hydroxy-β-ecdysone,a metabolite of β-ecdysone in the blowfly,Calliphora erythrocephala

Summary 26-Hydroxy--ecdysone has been identified as a metabolite of the moulting hormone, -ecdysone inCalliphora erythrocephala.     

(Z,E)-α-farnesene,main constitutent of the hypertrophied Dufour's gland of the major workers ofPheidole pallidula (Formicidae)

Summary In the European dimorphic ant,Pheidole pallidula, the Dufour's gland of the major workers is hypertrophied and secretes nearly pure (Z, E)--farnesene. This compound is also present in the Dufour's gland of the minor workers but constitutes only around 10% of the volatiles. Chemical polymorphism inP. pallidula is different from that already reported for species ofPheidole from the New World.Aspirante au Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique.Maître de recherches du Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique.