Wyniki wyszukiwania - Biblioteka Nauki

1

Breakthrough or Revolution - Significance of Mathematics for Occurrence of Cultural Revolution

100%

Wojcik W.

Zagadnienia Naukoznawstwa

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2007

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tom 43

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nr 2(172)

259-272

EN

In this article, the author presents some critical remarks on the Lucio Russo's book 'La rivoluzione dimenticata. Il pensiero scientifico greco e la scienza'. He focuses his attention on a few proposals presented by Russo. The first of them is treating the history of science as a key to understanding and interpretation of the history of European civilisation. Looking on the history of mankind merely from the point of view of politics, military or eventually technical events seems to loose the meanings of many historical events. One of such events was the cultural revolution in the 3rd century B.C., which occurred under influence of Greek mathematics. He argues against the concept of 'revolution in science' and replaces it by the concept of 'breakthrough'. He thinks that revolutions take place in the culture (broadly understood), but not in science. Moreover, he thinks that the breakthrough in ancient science had taken place not in the 3rd century (as Russo considers) but in the 4th century B.C. He tries to justify that recognition of mathematics as the introduction and essence of rational thinking and its inclusion into the system of education was the direct factor of the cultural revolution. The next interesting Russo's proposal is the presentation of a connection between exactness of mathematics and technical applications and use of the degree of exactness as a criterion for technical development in given epoch. The author thinks that the most valuable in the Russo's book is showing by means of several historical examples how European culture has retrieved the lost works of ancient scholars. It is a little depleted and promising research program in the history of science. Moreover, he argues against the main thesis of that book, i.e. that the modern science originated in the 3rd century B.C. Russo justifies that the whole development of the European science, since the Middle Ages throughout the Renaissance and modern times, is mainly an arduous trial of understanding scholar texts from the Hellenistic epoch. The author argues that ancient people really discovered the scientific method and it took place in the 4th century B.C. when mathematics refuted an accusation made against it and all rational thinking.

2

Chemicy sami o sobie w 1957 roku

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Dąbkowska M.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2011

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tom 20

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nr 1(38)

19-236

EN

A description presents the materials of questionnaire, which was filled up by the most eminent Polish chemists, and was inquired by a co-operative managed by professor Włodzimierz Hubicki in 1957 within the process of preparing biographical dictionary including elementary information on the most eminent historical and present-day representatives of all of the branches from the whole world (without mythological figures). The dictionary was not published. However, a valuable biographic material subsists, and was prepared by the chemists themselves (71 of 88 persons filled up their questionnaires) according to the following established pattern: surname and forename, date and place of birth, course of the university studies and professional career, place of the present didactic and scientific activity, academic dignities, scientific works, published manuals, awards for scientific works. The introduction includes a description of the conditions in that the chemists were polled, and the activity of a co-operative, which compiled the questionnaires. A complete set of originals (letters, questionnaires, biographies, publishing agreements, settlements of accounts) was transferred to the Record Office of Polish Academy of Sciences.

3

On natural sciences in old Polish agricultural encyclopaedias

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Wójcik Z. J.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2004

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tom 13

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nr 1-2(25-26)

7-23

EN

The fall of the 1863 rising in the Russian-occupied lands of Poland contributed to ruining the country's economy. The effects could be seen especially in agriculture, the main branch of the economy. At the same time, the victorious Russian authorities also restricted to a minimum any Polish specialist education at the secondary and tertiary levels. In those circumstances many aware citizens decided to organize agricultural (and naturalist) education for Poles by means of self-instruction, and in particular by publishing encyclopaedias. In the years 1873-1902 three series of such encyclopaedias were published: 1. An encyclopaedia of agriculture and of information connected with agriculture (five volumes in the years 1873-1879; 278 extensive surveys of a college-textbook type). 2. An agricultural and agricultural-industrial encyclopaedia (three volumes in the years 1888-1890, with short entries of a reference-item type). 3. An encyclopaedia of the Museum of Industry and Agriculture (eleven volumes in the years 1890-1902, with 614 entries of a monographic-survey type). Conspicuous in the first and the third of those encyclopaedias is the broad range of studies relating to the natural sciences (geology and mineralogy, botany and zoology, as well as the history of science and technology). The level of the information contained in the encyclopaedic entries is very high, with such information being based on the latest literature of the respective subjects (published in Poland and abroad), which can, for example, be seen in the treatment of concept of quaternary glaciation in Europe. As for the history of science, the encyclopaedias mainly brought information on the achievements of Polish naturalists. The encyclopaedias made a major contribution to reviving the national economy, by promoting education through self-instruction. The first two encyclopaedias were devised by specialists living in the Russian-held part of Poland, while among the authors of the third encyclopaedia there were also professors of Polish tertiary schools from the Austrian-held part of Poland (including S. Jentys, J. Niedzwiedzki, J. Siemiradzki). The encyclopaedias thus constitute an interesting part of the cultural heritage of Poland in the 19th and 20th centuries.

4

AN OUTLINE OF WITELONIAN TRADITION IN WRITING ON THE NATURAL SCIENCES

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Bielski A. , Bieganowski L.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2006

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tom 15

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nr 1-2(29-30)

169-197

EN

The goal of the current paper is to present the evolution of views on Witelo and the assessment of his contribution to the development of the natural sciences. The paper is based on studies devoted to the history of the natural sciences, chapters containing historical introductions in textbooks, and popular-scientific publications devoted to the field. The paper deals mainly with Polish writings on the topic. The paper points to recurring mistakes in such writings, and these involve not only the spelling of Witelo's name. The paper stresses important role played in the evolution of the Witelonian tradition by Risner's publication in 1572, in one volume entitled 'Opticae thesaurus', of Alhazen's work 'De aspectibus' and Witelo's 'Perspectiva'. Because Risner included references in Witelo's text to assertions made by Alhazen, it is likely that this led to the appearance of unfavourable comments with regard to Witelo at the end of the 16th century. Similar critical opinions were repeated in the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries, and sometimes they persist even today. Their authors stress the dependence of Witelo's views on those of Alhazen's, without noticing the circumstance that the latter scholar also made recourse to works of other authors. Witelo's 'Perspectiva' dealt mainly with issues in astronomy, physics and mathematics. It is for the reason that Witelo's views are taken account of in works on the history of those sciences. Yet, in spite of the fact that Book Ten of Witelo's 'Perspectiva' provided the basis of meteorological optics, Witelo is disregarded in the history of meteorology. On the other hand, due to the fact that in his 'Perspectiva' Witelo included a description of the structure of the eye, its geometrical model and a discussion of the process of vision, his work is of interest also to historians of medicine The analysis of the material collected in the paper leads to the conclusion that historians of natural sciences have a rather superficial knowledge of the content of the 'Perspectiva' and the person of Witelo himself.

5

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION IN POLISH-FRENCH RELATIONS IN THE YEARS 1971-1980

100%

Jarosz D.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2007

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tom 16

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nr 1-2(31-32)

283-315

EN

The aim of the paper is to analyse the key issues in Polish-French relations in the field of science and education in the 1970s. The paper is based on an analysis of archival materials gathered as a result of a search in French and Polish archives. The analysis has shown that the political transformations in the 1970s (due to detente in international relations) resulted in an ongoing process of extending contacts between institutions and individuals engaged in scientific and scholarly activity in the two countries. As for education, a constant problem related to the question of teaching Polish in France. The analysis also points to the main problems relating to the functioning of the Centre de Civilisation Française at the University of Warsaw, of the French Reading Rooms in Warsaw and Cracow, as well as the that of the Scientific Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Paris. The overall conclusion of the paper is that in the period in question a lot of progress was made in the field of Polish-French scientific and educational ties compared to the previous decades. A limited opening towards the West, one of the keystone elements of Edward Gierek's foreign policy, bore fruit in much wider opportunities for exchanges of scientists and students, as well as of secondary school pupils. Impediments to the development of such contacts came mainly from the decreasing financial possibilities of the departments and institutions involved. It also seems that Poland was not regarded in France as a very attractive partner in scientific and scholarly exchange. This, however, does not mean that there were no areas in scientific and scholarly contacts in which collaboration proceeded very fruitfully. Nonetheless, the precise determination of the scale of such collaboration will require further, more specialized research.

6

Pierwszy komunikat o odkryciu polonu zredagowany i własnoręcznie napisany przez Marię Skłodowską-Curie

80%

Mierzecki R.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2011

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tom 20

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nr 1(38)

7-18

EN

AIM: Analyzing and duplicating a genuine hand-written French text of the first statement about discovery of polonium presented to Academy of France on July 18, 1898, which was written with few corrections in Maria Skłodowska-Curie's own hand, together with its exact translation into Polish.  RESULTS: In a manuscript one cannot find any corrections written in own hand of Piotr Curie, who was mentioned as the first author of the statement. The authoress - Maria Skłodowska-Curie - set her name to the statement as the second signatory in the following form: 'Mme (previously, in a crossed out version: 'Madame') S. Curie'. In her signature the authoress placed a letter 'S' as an initial of her maiden name Skłodowska (and not as an initial of the name). The statement was published in the columns of Comptes Rendus de l'Academie Française. Previously, in the statement, which was issued by the same periodical, the authoress presented her surname in a version: 'Mme Skłodowska-Curie'. So, she was anxious to insist on the fact that both of the statements came from one person. A way of setting the name to the discussed statement caused that some authors describing the discovery of polonium mistakenly considered a letter 'S' to be an abbreviation of the name.  CONCLUSION: Formulating and writing in Maria Skłodowska-Curie's own hand the first statement about the discovery of the first radioactive element - polonium - confirms some authors' opinion, and particularly Polish ones', saying that a credit for a discovery of a new type of chemical elements - radioactive elements - should be primarily given to Polish scientist Maria Skłodowska-Curie, and not to her husband - Piotr Curie - who was a famous French physicist.

7

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH BY POLES IN THE REGION OF PODOLIA (PODOLE) IN THE 19TH AND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURIES

80%

Blombergowa M. M.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2005

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tom 14

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nr 1-2(27-28)

303-309

EN

In the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, many Polish lovers of antiquities and archaeologists engaged in archaeological research in the Galician part of Podolia (Podole); among them were Adam Honory Kirkor, Gotfryd Ossowski, Wladyslaw Przybyslawski, Izydor Kopernicki, Wlodzimierz Demetrykiewicz. The research was conducted under the auspices of the Anthropological and Archaeological Committees of the Academy of Learning (Akademia Umiejetnosci) in Cracow. Also researchers from Lwów (Lemberg, Lvov) were active in the archaeological exploration of the region - notably Karol Hadaczek, professor of ancient and prehistoric archaeology at the University of Lwów. Interest in the region's antiquities was shown by inhabitants of the Ukraine, among them Franciszek Pulaski and Czeslaw Neyman, who also engaged in excavations. The archaeological materials from the digs were amassed at the Museum of the Academy of Learning in Cracow, at museums in Lwów, and in private collections. Reports from the research were published in journals appearing in Cracow, in 'Swiatowit', in 'Biblioteka Warszawska' and in 'Ateneum'. The research also led to monographs and formed the basis for synthetic accounts of the prehistory of Galicia, as well as of particular prehistoric cultures and periods.

8

Polemics with Lucio Russo

80%

Kosciuszko K.

Zagadnienia Naukoznawstwa

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2007

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tom 43

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nr 2(172)

287-292

EN

The author evaluates Russo's ideas from postmodernist position. Contrary to L. Russo, who emphasizes the continuity and the commensurability in the history of science, he suggests that one should stress also discontinuity and incommensurability. Russo loses what is new and different in relation to Hellenistic science. He interprets the history of science as a repetition of the same Hellenistic paradigm. In his work, there is no emergence of novelty. From the other side, criticizing his exaggeratedly formalistic point of view, the author refers to the arguments of Heyting, Brouwer and I. Lakatos.

9

Intelektuálové zachránění Tureckem před nacismem a jejich kontakty s Československem

80%

Reisman A.

DVT - Dějiny věd a techniky (History of Sciences and Technology)

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2007

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tom 40

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nr 3

151-174

EN

In 1933, Turkey reformed its higher education using invitees fleeing the Nazis and for whom America was out of reach because of restrictive immigration laws and widespread anti-Semitic hiring bias at its universities. This visionary act on the part of Turkey's government had the collateral benefit of placing in escrow lives, knowledge, and creativity of many who went on to significantly change established paradigms of several disciplines in the English speaking world's sciences and professions. This paper discusses the Czech connection of four eminent scientists saved by Turkey. They are biochemist Felix Haurowitz, astronomer E. Finlay Freundlich, archeologist/ assyriologist Benno Landsberger, and applied mathematician Richard von Mises. Although none has achieved Nobel laureate status, over their professional careers each of these has collaborated with and or corresponded with a number of Nobelists. Among these are Albert Einstein, Linus Pauling, and Max von Laue. Except for Freundlich who ended up at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, the other three came to the United States. Von Mises went to Harvard in 1938, Landsberger went to the University of Chicago in 1945 and Haurowitz to Indiana University in 1949. The paper also discusses the fact that three of these intellectuals and many others requested and were given Czech passports by the Benes government-in-exile after having been stripped of their German citizenship by the Nazis while in Turkey and thereby rendering them stateless or in Turkish Haymatloz.

10

TIMES AND CLIMATES. EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH A CLINICAL INSTITUTE OF LABOUR, 1946-1948

80%

Mierzecki R.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2006

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tom 15

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nr 1-2(29-30)

369-375

EN

The paper is part of an unpublished diary by the dermatologist, Professor Henryk Mierzecki, in which he describes the poor state of the Polish health service prior to World War Two and immediately after its end. The author, who was then Head of the Department of Public Medicine at the Ministry of Health, presents the plans and actions undertaken to improve the situation. These included holding talks on the role of medical care in the workplace, and provided, in the longer run, for the establishment in Warsaw of a Clinical Institute of Labour, in premises donated by the Ministry of Health. The Institute was to house four clinics, several laboratories, a tutorial hall for 50 students and a lecture hall for 150 students. In 1949 the Ministry of Health abandoned plans to establish such an Institute in Warsaw, and transferred the task of organizing one at a later date to the National Institute of Hygiene, while Professor Mierzecki was put in charge of the Dermatology Clinic of the Medical Faculty of the University of Wroclaw. A Department of Occupational Medicine was established by Professor J. Nofer at the Medical School in Lódz in 1952, and it now functions there as the J. Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine.

11

THE ATTEMPT BY 'POLSKIE TOWARZYSTWO KRAJOZNAWCZE' (POLISH TOURIST SOCIETY) (1906-1950) TO DRAFT A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF THE LANDS OF POLAND AND OF COUNTRIES HISTORICALLY LINKED WITH POLAND

80%

Jedrzejczyk K. J.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2008

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tom 17

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nr 1-2(33-34)

103-119

EN

The author has analysed the work of members of the Polish Tourist Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Krajoznawcze, PTK) conducted in the 1930s on devising 'A geographical dictionary of the lands of Poland and of countries historically linked with Poland', with the aim of assessing the contributions by particular authors and gaining knowledge of the said dictionary. Because the relevant sources have not been preserved in an adequate degree, the analysis focuses on reports in the key periodicals published by PTK: 'Ziemia' (The Earth), 'Przegląd Krajoznawczy' (Tourist Review), 'Sprawozdania Polskiego Towarzystwa Krajoznawczego' (Reports of PTK) and 'Orli Lot' (Flight of the Eagle), as well as the preserved fascicules of the volume of the dictionary. The study has made it possible to ascertain the following facts: members of the PTK undertook an enormous effort, working both in libraries and, above all, in the field; they managed to enlist the cooperation of eminent scholars; enough material was collected and prepared for two volumes of the dictionary, but only an incomplete first volume was published (events of September 1939 -outbreak of WW II - caused work on the dictionary to be discontinued); as for the methodology, the entries were standardized according to a division between specific entries, more elaborate general entries (e.g. architecture, economy, etc.) and dictionary entries proper, relating to particular localities.The initiative to devise the dictionary as well as the effort that went into drafting it constituted a major research and editorial effort. The editorial board, which was headed by Stanislaw Arnold, and whose role was to supervise the work of many field researchers and systematize the materials that were sent in, managed to publish an incomplete first volume of the dictionary. The project exhibited a very high level of scholarship, thanks to the cooperation of major specialists in the research and editorial work on the dictionary. It is to be regretted that work on the dictionary was discontinued and not resumed after the end of WW II. This, however, was impossible because of the changed political circumstances in Poland after the war.

12

Revolution or Rebirth? Comments on 'The Forgotten Revolution' by Lucio Russo

80%

Krol Z.

Zagadnienia Naukoznawstwa

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2007

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tom 43

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nr 2

273-285

EN

This article presents some basic facts concerning ancient Greek mathematics which contradict many theses of 'The Forgotten Revolution: How Science Was Born in 300 BC and Why It Had To Be Reborn'. The disastrous and distorting negation of existence of early Greek mathematics and its scientific achievements is commonly accepted in some related studies, e.g. on the Pythagoreans. The argument concerns also some problems in modern science and mathematics.

13

A SHORT OVERVIEW OF 19TH-CENTURY JOURNALS CONTAINING MATERIALS ON THE HISTORY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

80%

Ostrowska T.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2005

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tom 14

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nr 1-2(27-28)

205-208

EN

The writing of valuable scientific publications has always been triggered by the activities of learned societies, tertiary educational institutions and the editorial boards of scientific journals. In the 19th century, Polish scientific writing was inspired mainly by the activities of the Warsaw Society of the Friends of Sciences (Towarzystwo Warszawskie Przyjaciól Nauk), which was responsbile for publishing its 'Yearbooks...' (Roczniki ..), and of Warsaw Physicians' Society , which published its 'Diary ...' (Pamietnik ...). There were also other journals that included works on the history of medicine and basic medical sciences, among them those that appeared in Warsaw: 'Klinika' (The Clinic), 'Gazeta Lekarska' (Physicians' Gazette), 'Zdrowie' (Health), as well as 'Krytyka Lekarska' (Physicians' Critique) and 'Przeglad Chirurgiczny' (Surgical Review), which were established by Józef Polak; in Cracow: 'Rocznik Wydzialu Lekarskiego Universytetu Jagiellonskiego' (Yearbook of the Medical Faculty of the Jagiellonian University) and 'Wiadomosci do Antropologii Krajowej' (News for National Anthropology); and in Poznan: 'Nowiny Lekarskie' (Physicians' News). The key to medical writings in the 19th century is provided by a cross-referenced bibliography compiled by Stanislaw Konopka.

14

Hellenistic Scientific Methods viewed from the Perspective of the Notion of Science by Lucio Russo

80%

Kubic A.

Zagadnienia Naukoznawstwa

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2007

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tom 43

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nr 2(172)

313-316

EN

This article presents reconstruction of Hellenist methodology formulated by Lucio Russo in his book 'Forgotten revolution'. Russo puts forward hypothesis that scientific method generally has its source in Hellenist period of antique Greece. The author argues that modern methodology often repeated discoveries of Hellenist Greek scholars. Good example of such a parallel are Hellenist phaenomena and their modern equivalents - protocol sentences in logical positivism. Methodological model of science formulated by Russo to explain history if science is based on three principles: theoreticality, deductiveness, and regularity. However, this definition seems a bit too narrow for Hellenist methodology and far too narrow for modern paradigms of sciences.

15

A FORGOTTEN MANUSCRIPT BY THE ROYAL CARTOGRAPHER, KAROL DE PERTHEES, FROM 1779

80%

Ertman A.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2006

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tom 15

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nr 1-2(29-30)

243-254

EN

The goal of the current study is to show the usefulenes as source material of a manuscript by Karol de Perthees which presents the method used in compiling his detailed maps of particular provinces of Poland. In the manuscript, the cartographer presented his plan of work on the detailed maps and he described the methods thanks to which a certain degree of precision could be obtained in compiling maps on the basis of itineraries and accounts. The procedure used by de Perthees in his work is evident from the points which he used to summarize it: - On the division of the country in the detailed maps; - Details on the maps of provinces and districts; - On roads in general and on detailed distances from one place to another; - How to correct mistakes and supplement missing information; - On astronomical observations; - Interesting and useful details which can be added to maps of districts; - Notation to be used in the detailed maps. The manuscript is of great value as a source material for historical-geographical research, for it makes it possible to reconstruct successive stages in the drawing of de Perthees's maps.

16

THE STATE OF TEACHING OF HISTORY OF MEDICINE AT MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN POLAND. SOME PROPOSALS

80%

Brzezinski T.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2005

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tom 14

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nr 1-2(27-28)

209-215

EN

The survey of the teaching of history of medicine at medical schools in Poland presented in the paper covers the organizational framework of institutions concerned with the history of medicine and their staff, as well as the place of the subject in curricula. Despite an overall positive assessment, especially with regard to the teaching staff, the prospects are not optimistic. There is a widespread tendency to make medicine a science of an exclusively biological nature. The rapid development of contemporary medicine and pharmacy is conducive to eliminating from curricula everything that is not of direct use to the future profession of the students. Medical schools are now facing a reorganization. The paper thus carries a plea directed to all representatives of medical sciences in the authorities of tertiary educational institutions, as well as in decision-making bodies for tertiary education in Poland, to preserve and develop humanistic instruction in medical schools. This has to do not only with the intellectual development of future physicians, but also concerns shaping appropriate attitudes to doctor-patient relations, which are the main source of complaints with regard to the deficiencies of medicine.

17

ON WITELO'S DIFFRACTION OF SUNLIGHT IN A CRYSTAL

80%

Burchardt J.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2006

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tom 15

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nr 1-2(29-30)

199-205

EN

Around the year 1270, Witelo, a son of 'Thuringians and Poles' who originated from Poland, diffracted beams of sunlight into colours in a transparent hexagonal crystal. The main goal of the current paper is to show the way in which Witelo systematically came closer to making his discovery, which took place at Viterbo, through proofs contained in Books Two and Ten of his major work entitled 'Perspectiva', written in 1271. The original Latin text of Witelo's optical discovery from the manuscript held at Cambridge, Emmanuel College Library 20, has been published in the journal 'Organon', 33 (2004), in the notes on pp. 76-80.

18

RELATIONS BETWEEN DUKE WLODZISLAW AND WITELO

80%

Burchardt J.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2006

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tom 15

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nr 1-2(29-30)

159-167

EN

Peter Lombard's 'Sententiae' of the 12th century contained rigorous rules on the ordination of priests, which were followed by popes. The regulations also concerned the Piast Duke of Wroclaw and Archbishop of Salzburg, Wlodzislaw, as well as his peer from the time of their studies at the faculty of liberal arts at Paris, master Witelo. The current paper deals with the relations between Duke Wlodzislaw and Witelo. It also presents the whole of the duke's life and, in the case of Witelo, gives a detailed account of the period of his studies. Details of Witelo's later life are presented in a book by the author of the article, entitled 'Witelo filosofo dalla natura del XIII sec. Una Biografia', Wroclaw 1984.

19

MAP-DOCUMENTED HISTORY OF EXPLORATION OF SIBERIA AS EXEMPLIFIED BY SELECTED WEST EUROPEAN MAPS OF THE 16th AND 17th CENTURY

80%

Szaniawska L.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2006

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tom 15

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nr 1-2(29-30)

207-241

EN

The paper focuses on the exploration, and later the drawing of maps, of territories that are far removed from the civilizations responsible for such attempts. In particular, it shows how the maps were at first filled with misleading images and then, along with gradual advances in the exploration of unknown lands and seas, how these were replaced by a picture more consistent with reality. It seems that maps of Northern Asia published in Western Europe since the 16th century are a particularly good example of the potential of maps as carriers of the Europeans' knowledge and ignorance. The maps document successive stages in the exploration of inaccessible areas of Siberia. They carry both elements taken over from the knowledge of ancient Greek geographers and those that were derived from the most recent discoveries made at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. It is interesting and quite characteristic of the maps of Siberia that fantastic and misleading content freely co-existed with bona fide information from field research. Until the second half of the 18th century, i.e. until a Russian atlas of the Russian Empire was published by the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, maps appeared on the book market of Europe whose authors had no geographical knowledge at all. A very good example is provided by how the islands of Novaya Zemlya were represented on maps published by European publishing houses after the discoveries of Willem Barents.

20

KOUMISS AND KEPHIR AS FOODSTUFFS AND MEDICINES. DISCUSSIONS IN POLISH MEDICAL JOURNALS OF THE SECOND HALF OF 19th CENTURY

80%

Trojanowska A.

Analecta. Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki

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2006

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tom 15

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nr 1-2(29-30)

293-308

EN

Beverages based on fermented milk began to attract the attention of official medicine in the second half of the 19th century, first in Russia but later also in the lands of Poland and in Germany. Using observations of the practices of ethnic groups in southern and eastern Russia, where koumiss or kephir were traditionally consumed, it was concluded that the beverages could be effective in treating tuberculosis and diseases of the alimentary tract. At the same time, a number of studies were undertaken to establish the chemical composition and the curative properties of koumiss and kephir and to investigate the processes of milk fermentation. The research soon revealed that those beverages did not contain any specific ingredient that would be effective in treating tuberculosis. It was noted, however, that beverages based on fermented milk could be an effective supplement in treating a number of diseases that led to the emaciation of the body. Polish scientists were among the first to take an interest in the curative properties of koumiss and kephir, and to start research on the two beverages. This is testified to by a number of papers published in the period of 1860s -1880s in Polish medical journals. The uses of koumiss and kephir in medicine were discussed in publications by, among others, E. Milosz (1868), Wiktor Jagielski (1871) and Boleslaw Lutostanski (1872); the chemical composition, microflora and fermentation processes were discussed in works by Aleksander Weinberg (1869), Franciszek Fijalkowski (1875), M. Heilpern (1886) and Leon Nencki and Aleksander Fabian (1887).