Society Of London Research Articles

Epidemics and Epidemiology

The word Epidemiology was written for the first time in a report on the plague in Alghero in 1583. Although its etymology has it intricacy. For centuries it has been concerned with understanding and trying to control and prevent epidemics. During the cholera epidemic in London in 1848 the London Society of Epidemiology was formed. Main instrument of Public Health since then. The increase in chronic diseases-supposedly no communicable-gave way to the epidemiology of black boxes and the predominance of risk factors. And later to an enormous methodological progress increasingly complex and intricate but professionally very appealing. So few epidemiologists have experience in field control of epidemics. Thus, perhaps it is convenient to return, although partially, to the origins. Looking at the future.

ANALYSING THE ANTISEMITIC CONSTRUCT OF FAGIN THROUGH THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING OF STEREOTYPES

Fagin in Dickens’ Oliver Twist unveils the English literary tradition and social reality of London Street Jews revealing antisemitism as a part of the Victorian culture. To create an archetypal supervillain who endangers the life of innocent juveniles, Dickens borrows from the antisemitic literary customs of his time to create a villainous character approved and hated; a Jew. Fagin’s exaggerated characterisation is modelled on medieval antisemitism and is reflective of Dickens’ antisemitic ideology and the then social reality of Jews living on London Streets. Dickens accepts and reflects on the antisemitism of his age to establish a Jew as the immutable villain of the London society. This paper critiques the antisemitic unconscious of Dickens reflected through the character of Fagin and further analyses his method of creation impregnated with elements of literary and traditional antisemitism for his villainous portrayal.

The contribution of the Scottish doctor Robert Erskine to the development of Russian medicine in the 18th century.

The Scottish doctor Robert Erskine (1677-1718) became Chief Doctor of Russia and personal physician to Tsar Peter the Great. Extensive archival material documents his remarkable career. From schooling in the village of Alva and apprenticeship to an Edinburgh apothecary, he went on to study medicine in Paris and Utrecht and was admitted to the Royal Society in London. Recruited into the service of the Tsar, to whom he became a trusted friend and counsellor, Erskine played a central role in the modernisation of Russian medicine, pharmacy and natural science in the early 18th century. His untimely death at age 41 was marked with a state funeral in St Petersburg. Some historians in Russia assert that in their country, the development of medicine and the natural sciences took place without the transitional stages of iatrochemistry and iatrophysics which characterised the shift in scientific thinking throughout Europe in the early modern period. This study of archival records shows that Erskine held iatrophysical and iatrochemical views in common with his European contemporaries. His influence ensured that Russia was thoroughly involved in European developments in science and medicine in the 18th century.

Robert McNeill Alexander. 7 July 1934—21 March 2016

Neill Alexander graduated in natural sciences at the University of Cambridge in 1955. After a PhD at Cambridge and a lecturership at the University College of North Wales in Bangor, he was appointed to the chair of the Department of Pure and Applied Zoology at the University of Leeds in 1969. At that stage, he switched his research interests abruptly from fishes to the mechanics of legged locomotion. He conducted experiments with a variety of mammals, calculating forces, stresses and strains in muscle fibres, bones and tendons. His speciality became the application of mathematical models to animal locomotion, including repurposing the Froude number, devised by the Victorian engineer William Froude (FRS 1870) for use with ships, to estimate the speed of dinosaurs based on the spacing of their fossil footprints. Subsequent work included modelling the optimization of mammal performance and the minimization of energy costs. In 1992, following an announcement that London Zoo would have to close as a result of shortage of funds, Neill was appointed secretary of the Zoological Society of London. During the period of his secretaryship, the Society's finances recovered, with both its zoos (London and Whipsnade) breaking even in 1993 and the Society returning a surplus in each subsequent year. Neill was awarded the CBE in 2000. The National Portrait Gallery holds his portrait by John Arnison.

Dalrymple, William. The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire.

Dalrymple, William. <i>The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire</i>.

Chinese Folklore for the English Public: Herbert A. Giles’s 1880 Translation of Pu Songling’s Classical Tales

Chinese Folklore for the English Public: Herbert A. Giles’s 1880 Translation of Pu Songling’s Classical Tales

“It Must Be Preserved”: Adolph Bolm's Revival of Le Coq d'Or

“It Must Be Preserved”: Adolph Bolm's Revival of <i>Le Coq d'Or</i>

Economic perspectives on the future of academic publishing: Introduction to the special issue

Economic perspectives on the future of academic publishing: Introduction to the special issue

Bryan White. Music for St Cecilia’s Day: From Purcell to Handel.

Bryan White. <i>Music for St Cecilia’s Day: From Purcell to Handel</i>.

Superconductivity in the Layered Cage Compound Ba3Rh4Ge16 Supported the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFA0704300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U1932217, 11974246, and 12004252), the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (Grant No. 19ZR1477300), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (Grant No. 19JC1413900), and the Analytical Instrumentation Center, SPST, ShanghaiTech University (Grant

We report the synthesis and superconducting properties of a layered cage compound Ba3Rh4Ge16. Similar to Ba3Ir4Ge16, the compound is composed of 2D networks of cage units, formed by noncubic Rh–Ge building blocks, in marked contrast to the reported rattling compounds. The electrical resistivity, magnetization, specific heat capacity, and μSR measurements unveiled moderately coupled s-wave superconductivity with a critical temperature T c = 7.0 K, the upper critical field μ 0 H c2(0) ∼ 2.5 T, the electron-phonon coupling strength λ e−ph ∼ 0.80, and the Ginzburg–Landau parameter κ ∼ 7.89. The mass reduction with the substitution of Ir by Rh is believed to be responsible for the enhancement of T c and coupling between the cage and guest atoms. Our results highlight the importance of atomic weight of framework in cage compounds in controlling the λ e−ph strength and T c.

Beautiful, Truth, Imaginary in the art of puppet theater - THE INSECT CIRCUS by String Theater

Abstract One of the shows invited to attend the 14th Edition of the Iaşi International Theater Festival for Young Audiences (FITPTI), outstanding performance with classic short string puppetry, was performed at the Small Hall of the Luceafărul Theater by String Theater from Great Britain. The London Company relies on the charm of the long strings animating techniques for puppets, maneuvered (manipulated) from a height. The Company started the activity in London, 2011, the founders are Soledad Zarate and Stan Middleton, descendants of several generations of artists specializing in the management and promotion of this type of theater, with Elizabethan roots and fresh puppet infusions. The Insect Circus is a gem show, a demonstration of mastery in the art of puppet handling. A performance that overturns prejudices related to this type of theater, but also a sample of good practice, an example of how the tenderness and clumsiness of these irresistible actors on strings can be enhanced.

Profile of Ginés Morata

Gines Morata grew up in remote village in southeast Spain. As a child, he says, he had no scientific role models or sources of inspiration. Yet, by the end of graduate school, Morata had made two groundbreaking discoveries in Drosophila that are still influencing the field of developmental biology, including the discoveries of developmental compartments and the phenomenon of cell competition. His Inaugural Article examines how mutant cells in Drosophila outsmart cell competition to form tumors (1). For his accomplishments, Morata has received multiple awards, including Spain’s Prince of Asturias Prize for Science and Technology and foreign membership in the Royal Society in London. A research professor at the Spanish National Research Council and the Autonomous University of Madrid, Morata was elected as an international member of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2018. Morata grew up in a modest household in Rioja, Almeria, Spain. His father was a traffic cop, and his mother stayed home with their four sons and a daughter. Although neither parent had any formal education, both emphasized the importance of school, says the second-born Morata. The family did not have money for secondary school, let alone college, but Morata’s good grades earned him scholarships that sent him first to the nearby city of Almeria for secondary school and, later, to the Complutense University in Madrid for college. Gines Morata. Image credit: Jose A. Perez (Centro de Biologia Molecular, Madrid, Spain). Although Morata loved watching birds and snakes as a child, he did not feel any affinity for biology at that age. When he went off to Madrid for college, he thought he might study mathematics or physics, inspired by a particularly adept mathematics teacher. However, a chance discovery helped change his course. “I read a book by Linus Pauling, where he made the point …

IMPROVING THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

SUMMARY: The peer review process has been regarded as an essential part of accepting or rejecting a paper for publication since 1752 when the process was started by The Royal Society of London in the publication entitled “Philosophical Transactions”. In developing countries, one of the primary reasons for submitting pieces for publication is to support promotion in universities. In fact, the argument can be made that the only reason for publishing in developing countries is for faculty promotion. Despite the peer review process being standard practice for scientic journals, many of the research publications on COVID-19 were not subjected to the peer review system. In fact, numerous publications were pre-prints and papers shared by researchers online which were not peer reviewed, yet they were accepted and published by scientic journals in developing nations. When authors start to lose condence in the peer review process of a journal, they are not likely to submit their research work to such journals and this can lead to a diminished impact and reputation of such journals. Additionally, the selection of the assessors by the Editor-in -Chief is usually from the academic space of the editor and from the colleagues of the editor that usually share the editor's view. Contrary to what some editors in the developing countries believe, medical and academic administrative positions do not necessarily result in expertise in the peer review process. An editor can easily identify a poor assessment of an article, from the vitriolic feed-back of the author to the editor about an assessor when a paper is not recommended for publication. This paper provides evidence of and outlines the possible reasons that the peer review process is substandard in developing countries.

The Malagasy Folk-Lore Society (1876–87)

The Malagasy Folk-Lore Society was founded in 1876 in Madagascar and counts as the first Folk-Lore Society to be so named. The holdings of SOAS University of London allow its history to be documented for the first time. Along with the South African Folk-Lore Society (1879), it was one established in the Global South. The Malagasy Folk-Lore Society and The Folk-Lore Society in London were to become linked through the figure of the Rev. James Sibree.

Philip Henry Gosse and the Microscopical Society of London, with additions to Gosse’s bibliography

Philip Henry Gosse and the Microscopical Society of London, with additions to Gosse’s bibliography

The first painting of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) in Europe? Natural history and artistic patronage in early nineteenth-century India

Throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, British East India Company officials, based in the Indian subcontinent, amassed huge collections of natural history images. One of the largest collections, consisting of many thousands of individual paintings commissioned mainly from Indian artists between 1790 and 1823, was formed by Major-General Thomas Hardwicke. Some of these later formed the basis of John Edward Gray’s Illustrations of Indian zoology, but the vast majority remained unpublished. This paper focuses on one of these images, a detailed watercolour of the red panda ( Ailurus fulgens), painted to accompany a scientific description of the species which Hardwicke sent from Bengal to the Linnean Society of London in 1820. The painting pre-dates Frédéric Cuvier’s description of the animal by four years, and is almost certainly the first image of the red panda to have arrived in Europe. This paper sets the painting in the context of Hardwicke’s career as a naturalist and private patron of Indian artists, highlighting both his role as an early investigator of Indian zoology and the importance of “Company Art” in the accrual of scientific information.

Alexander William Robert Bevan, July 25, 1951–February 11, 2021

Alexander William Robert Bevan, July 25, 1951–February 11, 2021

Blood Transfusion and Venous Cannulation — Medical Publication and Innovation Across 350 Years of History

Abstract This article reviews historical milestones during the last 350 years starting with early experiments in intravenous injections of drugs and blood transfusion conducted in a climate of scientific discovery rather than clinical application. Technical problems encountered during attempts of vascular cannulation and a lack of knowledge of physiology resulted in complications related to intravenous access, sometimes fatal, which resulted in a complete ban on blood transfusion in Europe for 150 years. Meticulous documentation of these first 17th century experiments was published in Britain, in the “Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London,” the oldest continuously published scientific journal still in existence, and in France, in the “Journal des Sçavans.” These journals became the primary means of communication of scientific research and letters amongst the community of scientists. Intravenous therapy marked the start of the first primitive anesthetic and laid the foundations for anesthesia and blood transfusion, although their clinical application came centuries later. Successful intravenous anesthesia was established around the turn of the 19th century. Brave men in the 17th century endeavored to awaken the spirit of inquiry and research among their peers at the Royal Society of London. Thanks to these bold medical men acting at a time of accelerated change, there was a great impact on clinical practice in many medical fields. Anesthesia now bears the fruits of these initial experiments so that, ultimately, anesthetists can provide safe and effective anesthesia while delivering anesthetic drugs, intravenous fluids, and blood transfusions for the benefit of patients.

Location probing by males complicates sexual dynamics and successful mate‐guarding in squid groups

Reproductive fitness is defined by the successful passing of an individual's genes to the next generation. Cephalopods that mate in groups, in particular coastal squid and cuttlefish species, have evolved complex sexual tactics in order to maximize reproductive success (Morse and Huffard 2019). Through dynamic skin patterning accompanied by typical body postures, individuals send visual signals in the form of displays to potential mates and rival competitors, often engaging in escalating conflicts (Moynihan and Rodaniche 1982, Mather 2016).

“Revenue Generating Machines”? London’s Local Housing Companies and the Emergence of Local State Rentierism

AbstractSince 2010, faced with deep austerity measures, 27 London councils have set up a housing company to acquire, develop, and manage housing. Following 40 years of privatisation, these council‐owned companies have been celebrated as a post‐neoliberal municipal alternative to the hegemony of market‐led urban policy. By developing commodified real estate and monetising rising land values, they promise to deliver well‐designed housing, generate long‐term fiscal rents, and secure local state autonomy. Drawing on in‐depth empirical research, this paper develops a situated political economic critique of the limitations, contradictions, and risks of local housing companies in London. Framed as a “critical case”, providing insight into the politics of speculative urban provisioning and land value extraction, I argue that local housing companies represent a mode of municipal statecraft—a local state rentierism—that leans into and reproduces a political economy of financialisation and rentierism with potentially long‐term implications for collective urban provisioning.