Michael Foster and the Cambridge School of Physiology : The Scientific Enterprise in Late Victorian Society

Despite great ferment and activity among historians of science in recent years, the history of physiology after 1850 has received little attention. Gerald Geison makes an important contribution to our knowledge of this neglected area by investigating the achievements of English physiologists at the Cambridge School from 1870 to 1900. He describes individual scientists, their research, the scientific issues affecting their work, and socio-institutional influences on the group. He pays special attention to the personality and contributions of Michael Foster, founding father of the Cambridge School. Foster's specific research interest was the origin of the rhythmic heartbeat, and the author contends that the school itself descended from and developed around this concern. Originally published in 1978. The **Princeton Legacy Library** uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. Cover Contents Preface Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Part 1 : The Background: Foster and English Physiology,1840-1870 1. Introduction 2. The Stagnancy of English Physiology,1840-1870 National Styles in Continental Physiology,1840-1870 The Anatomical Bias of English Physiology Anatomical Bias and the Structure of English Medical Education The Relative Unimportance of the Anatomical Bias for the Position of English Physiology, 1800-1840 The Stagnancy Becomes Apparent: Experimental Science and the English Universities, 1840-1870 Conclusion 3. Foster on His Way to Cambridge William Sharpey, Foster's mentor in physiology Voyage to the Red Sea and medical practice in Huntingdon, 1859-1867 University College and the Call to Cambridge, 1867-1870 Part 2 : The Institutional Framework for Foster's Achievement 4. Foster Meets Cambridge: Trinity College, University Reform, and the Rise of Laboratory Science Science at Oxford and Cambridge c. 1870: The Outward Similarities Wherein the Difference Lay: Tradition and Trinity College Foster, Trinity College, and the Rise of Laboratory Biology in Late Victorian Cambridge Conclusion 5. The Transformation of Biology in Late Victorian Cambridge: Foster, Huxley, and the Introduction of Laboratory Biology in England Biology at Cambridge When Foster Arrived: Babington and Newton Foster and Balfour: The Rise of Embryology and Animal Morphology Foster, Huxley, and the South Kensington Course in Elementary Biology Foster, Martin, Huxley, and the Development of Elementary Laboratory Biology Laboratory Biology in England: Where Foster and Cambridge Belong in the Web of Influence 6. The Rise of Physiology in Late Victorian Cambridge: Ways and Means, 1870-1883 Seizing the Transient Moment: Foster, Cambridge, and the Transformation of English Physiology Foster's Ambassador at Large: George Murray Humphry, Medical Reform, and Physiology Enrollments, Bricks, and Mortar: the Growth of Foster's Laboratory and Courses, 1870-1883 Students and Fellowships: Manpower and Resources in the Cambridge School Dramatis Personnae: Teaching Personnel in the Early Cambridge School "Work, Finish, Publish": Foster, Organs of Publication, and the Ideology of Research Part 3 : The Problem of the Heartbeat and the Rise of the Cambridge School 7. Foster as Research Physiologist: The Problem of the Heartbeat Foster and the Problem of the Heartbeat, 1864-1869 The Royal Institution Lectures of 1869: Toward a More General Context for Foster's Views on the Heartbeat The Significance of the Royal Institution Lectures: Rhythmicity and the "physiological Division of Labour" Foster's Later Research on the Problem of the Heartbeat: The Discovery of Nerveless Inhibition in the Snail's Heart Foster and Dew-Smith, 1876: the Effects of Electric Currents on the Frog's Heart Foster and the Effects of Upas Antiar on the Frog's Heart, 1876 The Significance of Foster's Work on the Heart 8. The Problem of the Heartbeat and the Rise of the Cambridge School Francis Darwin John Newport Langley George John Romanes and the Problem of Rhythmic Motion Walter Holbrook Gaskell and vasomotor action in skeletal muscle, 1874-1878 Foster, Gaskell, and the analogy between vasodilation and cardiac inhibition Gaskell's study of cardiovascular tonicity, 1880 9. The Maturation of the Cambridge School: Gaskell's Resolution of the Problem of the Heartbeat, 1881-1883 The Croonian Lecture for 1882: Gaskell on Vagus Action Gaskell's Defection: Continuous vs. Discontinuous Ganglionic Discharges Gaskell's Classic Paper of 1883: A Fully Myogenic Resolution of the Problem of the Vertebrate Heartbeat Gaskell's Cardiological Research and the Cambridge Setting: Toward a Comparative Evaluation of the Contributions of Foster, Romanes, and Gaskell Part 4 : Denouement and Conclusion 10. The Growth and Consolidation of the Cambridge School, 1883-1903: Foster in His More Familiar Entrepreneurial Role Foster's Retreat from the Laboratory The Physical Growth of the Cambridge School, 1883-1903 Research in the Cambridge School, 1883-1903: New Problems and Directions Gaskell, Langley, and the Autonomic Nervous System Conclusion 11. Concluding Reflections Toward a "National Style" for Late Victorian Physiology Speculative Interlude: National Styles and the Problem of the Heartbeat Foster and the Rise of the Cambridge School: The Factors in His Success Appendices I. Foster as "Inefficient Teacher": The Debate over Clinical Teaching at Cambridge II. Institutional Loci of Research Published in the Journal of Physiology, 1878-1900 III. Cambridge Graduates and Faculty Who Published Articles in the Journal of Physiology, 1878-1900 IV. Cambridge University Positions in Physiology, 1870-1910 V. Cambridge University Positions in Zoology, Comparative Anatomy, and Morphology, 1870-1910 VI. Cambridge University Positions in Pathology, Bacteriology, Biology, and Pharmacology, 1870-1910 VII. Cambridge University Positions in Botany, 1870-1910 VIII. Cambridge University Positions in Other Related Fields: Medicine, Anatomy, Agriculture, Ethnology, Anthropology, and Experimental Psychology, 1870-1910 Index of Authors Cited in Footnotes General Index Despite great ferment and activity among historians of science in recent years, the history of physiology after 1850 has received little attention. Gerald Geison makes an important contribution to our knowledge of this neglected area by investigating the achievements of English physiologists at the Cambridge School from 1870 to 1900. He describes individual scientists, their research, the scientific issues affecting their work, and socio-institutional influences on the group. He pays special attention to the personality and contributions of Michael Foster, founding father of the Cambridge School. Foster's specific research interest was the origin of the rhythmic heartbeat, and the author contends that the school itself descended from and developed around this concern. Originally published in 1978. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905