History Commons^™

Is There A Gay Brain? The Problems With Scientific Research Of Sexual Orientation, Matthew Mclaughlin

The Great Lakes Journal of Undergraduate History

In 1991 neuroscientist Simon LeVay published “A Difference in Hypothalamic Structure Between Heterosexual and Homosexual Men”, which reported the discovery of a ‘region’ in the anterior hypothalamus of the brain that determined sexual orientation in men. LeVay's study was an attempt to revolutionize the scientific study of sexual orientation, as previous decades of research had failed to isolate the biological determining factor of human sexual orientation. Blinded by his political motivation to aid the gay rights movement at the end of the twentieth century, LeVay's study - as well as the countless other scientific investigations of human sexuality - merely …

Writing About Espionage Secrets, Kristie Macrakis

Secrecy and Society

This article describes the author’s experiences researching three books on espionage history in three different countries and on three different topics. The article describes the foreign intelligence arm of the Ministry for State Security; a global history of secret writing from ancient to modern times; and finally, my current project on U.S. intelligence and technology from the Cold War to the War on Terror. The article also discusses the tensions between national security and openness and reflects on the results of this research and its implications for history and for national security.

Women And Other Beasts: A Feminist Perspective On Medieval Bestiaries, Carolynn Van Dyke

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Gender and species intersect in the subject-matter, readership, and authorship of medieval beast-books. First, androcentric norms result in inconsistent gender references to species: the grammatically feminine eagle (Aquila) is represented as a stern father, the masculine turtledove (Turtura) as a clinging wife. More broadly, male exemplars represent nearly all species regardless of grammatical gender.

Second, both discursive norms and bibliographic practice presumed an exclusively male readership for the bestiary, but external and internal evidence suggest that bourgeois mothers used bestiaries in educating their children.

Third, a more radical intervention in androcentric bestiary norms is an instance …

Dracula: The Anti-Vaccination Movement And Urban Life In Victorian England, Mary Elisabeth Carter Goode

Tenor of Our Times

Often, scholars examine Dracula through the lens of sexual dangers and exploits; however, there is another avenue that deserves investigation. "Dracula: The Anti-Vaccination Movement and Urban Life in Victorian England" examines the relationship between Bram Stoker's Dracula and the anti-vaccination movement in Victorian England. In particular, this paper focuses on Stoker's commentary on Victorian England's vaccination movement throughout the pages of his work.

Andrea Goulet. Legacies Of The Rue Morgue: Science, Space, And Crime Fiction In France. Philadelphia: U Of Pennsylvania P, 2016., Kelsey B. Madsen

Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature

Review of Andrea Goulet. Legacies of the Rue Morgue: Science, Space, and Crime Fiction in France. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2016. 295pp.

What Makes A Theory Of Infinitesimals Useful? A View By Klein And Fraenkel, Vladimir Kanovei, Karin Katz, Mikhail Katz, Thomas Mormann

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Felix Klein and Abraham Fraenkel each formulated a criterion for a theory of infinitesimals to be successful, in terms of the feasibility of implementation of the Mean Value Theorem. We explore the evolution of the idea over the past century, and the role of Abraham Robinson's framework therein.

Succor In Smoke: A Historical And Comparative Analysis Of Incense And Moxibustion As Similar Agents Of Edification And Self-Cultivation, Hannah E. Matulek

Black & Gold

Since its origins in the Shang Dynasty nearly 3,000 years ago, traditional Chinese medicine has undergone many dramatic shifts and adapted to a wide range of cultural, social, religious and foreign pressures. One of the most notable changes is the attribution of the etiology of disease (as well as general poor health and behaviors) from volatile and dissatisfied external forces to manageable internal forces. This allowed for a flourishing of thought in Chinese medicine, for once granting an individual the power to influence his or her own health. Three religions—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism—were also introduced to China at this time, …

Frankenstein And “The Labours Of Men Of Genius”: Science And Medical Ethics In The Early 19th Century, Allison Lemley

Grand Valley Journal of History

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, first published in 1818, used a sprawling network of allusions to contemporary literary and scientific works, which strongly reflected Romantic scientific and literary ideology. The robust connections between Romantic artistic and scientific circles included personal and professional relationships, scientists writing literary works, and authors discussing scientific advances. The closely linked scientific and artistic community helped define science and the nature of life in the new era. Medical historians have not fully discussed the debate concerning medical ethics in this period, detailing earlier Enlightenment medical ethics and later Romantic medical developments, which more closely resemble modern scientific …

Intersex And The Pardoner’S Body, Kim Zarins

Accessus

Most scholars today have retreated from reading into the Pardoner's body in favor of more figurative readings that emphasize his lack of masculinity, and such lack is then linked to his dejection and despair. Other, more affirming readings center the Pardoner's performance, which allows him to model any sort of body desired through figuration. While such positions dominate and older theories like Beryl Rowland's proposal of an intersex Pardoner are dismissed, in fact, an intersex reading might be a more life-affirming interpretation, not only in terms of reframing the Pardoner's body as manifesting variation as opposed to lack, but also …

Wood Pulp And The Emergence Of A New Industrial Landscape In Maine, 1880 To 1930, John Clark, Deryck Holdwworth

Maine History

Between the 1880s and 1930s, investors developed over seventy pulp and paper mill sites to exploit the woods and inland waters of Maine. Authors John Clark and Deryck Holdsworth tracked the changing historical geographies of papermaking in Maine during this period through an analysis of data from Lockwood’s Directory, the industry’s leading monitor of investment. They also mapped mill sites, noting their changing capacity and shifts in product types as consumer needs evolved. Their work shows how the development of a railroad network helped facilitate a shift from smaller mills at coastal sites to larger mills at inland settings, which …