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SUMMARY:Virgin birth crosses the Atlantic: Jacques Loeb's experiments on a
 rtificial parthenogenesis in the British press\, 1900–06 - Dmitriy Myeln
 ikov (Department of History and Philosophy of Science)
DTSTART:20120220T130000Z
DTEND:20120220T141500Z
UID:TALK35074@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sophie Waring
DESCRIPTION:In 1899\, at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Station in Massa
 chusetts\, Jacques Loeb performed a series of experiments that led to a se
 a-urchin egg beginning to develop without fertilisation by sperm. While no
 t the first 'artificial parthenogenesis' experiments of its kind\, this wo
 rk made waves in both scientific and lay press in America\, and in the fol
 lowing years Loeb became a scientific celebrity. Yet\, in Britain it was L
 oeb's less documented work on the ionic phenomena of nerve action and dela
 y of death that drew more attention\, and the experiments on artificial pa
 rthenogenesis were incorporated into popular accounts afterwards.\n\nIn th
 is talk\, I will trace the transfers of knowledge about an experiment acro
 ss the Atlantic between two close linguistic cultures\, and focus on alter
 native routes of science communication. By examining representations and a
 ppropriations of Loeb's work in the narratives surrounding novel uses of e
 lectricity\, patent medicines and devices\, early feminist utopias\, and t
 he boundaries between living and non-living matter\, I will explore how sc
 ientific reputations were transplanted in the beginning of the twentieth\n
 century.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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