Stanley Finger
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 986725 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Stanley Finger |
| NOMBRES | Stanley |
| APELLIDO | Finger |
| FIRMA | FINGER S |
| AFILIACIONES | Washington University in St. Louis |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9773-497X |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 23 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 10 |
| OBRAS COMO AUTOR | 21 |
| OBRAS COMO EDITOR | 2 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1997 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 2 |
Jean-Martin Charcot and Scandinavian literature
French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, a towering figure familiar to late-19th-century physicians, became better known to the laity of different countries through periodicals, books, and plays. This article examines how Charcot influenced the works of four popular Scandinavian authors: Norwegians Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Hans Ernst Kinck, and Øvre Richter Frich, and a Swede, Axel Munthe. These popular novelists and playwrights, all having lived in…
Mark Twain, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Head Readers
The quest for objectivity and measurements in phrenology’s “bumpy” history
Phrenology is based on correlating character traits with visible or palpable cranial bumps (or depressions) thought to reflect underlying brain areas differing in size and levels of activity. Franz Joseph Gall, who introduced the doctrine during the 1790s, relied heavily on seeing and feeling skulls when he formulated his theory, as did Johann Spurzheim, who served as his assistant until 1813 and then set forth on his own. But Peter Mark Roget, a…
Franz Joseph Gall on God and religion
Franz Joseph Gall's (1758-1828) doctrine of many faculties of mind with corresponding cortical organs led him to be accused of materialism, fatalism, and even atheism. Yet little has been written about the specific charges he felt forced to respond to in Vienna, while visiting the German States, or in Paris, where he published his books. This article examines these accusations and Gall's responses. It also looks at what Gall wrote about a cortica…
Franz Joseph Gall's non-cortical faculties and their organs
Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) is remembered for his claims that behavior results from a large number of independent mental faculties, and that these faculties are associated with cortical organs. Apart from the 26 faculties he localized in the cerebrum, he also recognized one faculty (reproductive drive) in the cerebellum. This picture, however, is based on Gall's presentations in his well-known later works, his four volume Anatomie et Physiologi…
Gall and phrenology
Joseph Gall, as he was called prior to his trip to Paris (Finger and Eling 2019), was born in 1758 in the small town of Tiefenbronn, near the border of Germany's Schwarzwald (Black Forest).After primary school, although pressured to become a priest, he went to Strasbourg to study medicine.In 1785, he completed his medical education in Vienna and began a private practice catering to the well-to-do in the Austrian capital.But when not seeing patien…
Mark Twain's life-long fascination with phrenology
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain; 1835-1910), American humorist and writer, followed scientific and medical developments, and relished exposing questionable practices and ideas. In his youth, he pondered how phrenologists were assessing character, and in 1855 he copied sections of a phrenology book and a skull diagram into a notebook. Later, in London, he had two phrenological examinations by Lorenzo Fowler-one without and the other after ide…
Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic
Surveying the history of medicine in America from the Columbian exchange to the Civil War, Elaine G. Breslaw's Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic synthesizes the broad literature on an important subject. At the heart of Breslaw's narrative is “the conflict between medicine and the public,” a clash that pitted self-appointed medical elites against a variety of informal healing practices (pp. 185–86). Throughout the era, in Breslaw's telling, statu…
The Shocking History of Electric Fishes
This book looks at how three kinds of strongly electric fishes literally became “electrical,” and how they helped to change the sciences and medicine. These fishes are the flat torpedo rays common to the Mediterranean, the electric catfishes of Africa, and an “eel” from South America. The discovery of the electrical nature of these fishes in the second half of the 18th century was the starting point of the two fundamental advances in the sciences…
The Shocking History of Electric Fishes
"This book looks at how three kinds of strongly electric fishes literally became "electrical", and how they helped to change the sciences and medicine. These fishes are the flat torpedo rays common to the Mediterranean, the electric catfishes of Africa, and an "eel" from South America. The discovery of the electrical nature of these fishes in the second half of the 18th century was the starting point of the two fundamental advances in the science…
The Electrical World of Benjamin Franklin
John Walsh’s Scientific Journey
Colonel John Walsh more than anyone else would make electric fish electrical. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1770, being “a Gentleman well acquainted with philosophical & polite literature, & particularly versed in the natural history and antiquities of India”. After his election into the Royal Society, Walsh interacted with the organization's esteemed natural philosophers and electrical scientists. Of these people, Franklin was singula…
Alexander Garden
The previous chapter showed the first of the important North American contributions to the electric fish story, specifically a series of experiments conducted by members of the American Philosophical Society, including one showing that the discharge from an eel could jump a minute gap in a wire, even though no spark was perceived at that time. This chapter now turns to what transpired in South Carolina, and specifically the role played by Alexand…
Brain, Mind and Medicine
Benjamin Franklin and shock-induced amnesia
Shock-induced amnesia received considerable attention after Cerletti popularized electroconvulsive shock therapy in the late 1930s. Yet, often overlooked is the fact that Benjamin Franklin recognized that passing electricity through the head could affect memory for the traumatic event. Franklin described his findings on himself and others in several letters from the mid-1700s, 2 of which were published in his lifetime. What he observed was confir…
Trepanation
'Dual brain action'
The idea that contrasting states of consciousness or dual personalities may in some way be related to the two hemispheres of the brain drew considerable attention during the nineteenth century, especially after cerebral dominance became accepted in the 1860s. The notion that the better educated and more verbal personality could be associated with the left hemisphere, whereas a more primitive or beast-like personality could be associated with the …
E. George Squier and the Discovery of Cranial Trepanation
STANLEY FINGER, HIRAN R. FERNANDO; E. George Squier and the Discovery of Cranial Trepanation: A Landmark in the History of Surgery and Ancient Medicine, Jo
The power of a musical instrument
The power of a musical instrument
In 1761 Benjamin Franklin invented the armonica (often referred to as the glass harmonica), an instrument designed to simplify the playing of the musical glasses. The instrument immediately became popular and inspired compositions by Wolfgang Mozart, who had the opportunity to hear and play one at the house of Franz Anton Mesmer. Armonica music was used by Mesmer in his séances, because he felt it could promote healing by propagating a mystical f…
Konstantin M. Bykov and the Discovery of the Role of the Corpus Callosum
STEPHEN M. KANNE, STANLEY FINGER; Konstantin M. Bykov and the Discovery of the Role of the Corpus Callosum, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied S
Medicine in the Arts
STANLEY FINGER, MARK B. LAW; MEDICINE IN THE ARTS: Karl August Weinhold and His “Science” in the Era of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Experiments on Electri
David Hartley's psychobiological associationism and the Legacy of Aristotle
The idea that there are certain "laws"; of learning (similarity, contrast, contiguity) can be traced to Aristotle. He maintained that external stimuli cause small movements in the vessels to the dominant heart, the vestiges of which can be linked to one another. Aristotle's laws of learning were incorporated into the writings of Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley, men who said nothing about the physiological correlates of mental associations. This left …
E. George Squier and the Discovery of Cranial Trepanation
STANLEY FINGER, HIRAN R. FERNANDO; E. George Squier and the Discovery of Cranial Trepanation: A Landmark in the History of Surgery and Ancient Medicine, Jo
The power of a musical instrument
In 1761 Benjamin Franklin invented the armonica (often referred to as the glass harmonica), an instrument designed to simplify the playing of the musical glasses. The instrument immediately became popular and inspired compositions by Wolfgang Mozart, who had the opportunity to hear and play one at the house of Franz Anton Mesmer. Armonica music was used by Mesmer in his séances, because he felt it could promote healing by propagating a mystical f…
David Hartley's psychobiological associationism and the Legacy of Aristotle
The idea that there are certain "laws"; of learning (similarity, contrast, contiguity) can be traced to Aristotle. He maintained that external stimuli cause small movements in the vessels to the dominant heart, the vestiges of which can be linked to one another. Aristotle's laws of learning were incorporated into the writings of Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley, men who said nothing about the physiological correlates of mental associations. This left …
Franz Joseph Gall on God and religion
Franz Joseph Gall's (1758-1828) doctrine of many faculties of mind with corresponding cortical organs led him to be accused of materialism, fatalism, and even atheism. Yet little has been written about the specific charges he felt forced to respond to in Vienna, while visiting the German States, or in Paris, where he published his books. This article examines these accusations and Gall's responses. It also looks at what Gall wrote about a cortica…
Gall and phrenology
Joseph Gall, as he was called prior to his trip to Paris (Finger and Eling 2019), was born in 1758 in the small town of Tiefenbronn, near the border of Germany's Schwarzwald (Black Forest).After primary school, although pressured to become a priest, he went to Strasbourg to study medicine.In 1785, he completed his medical education in Vienna and began a private practice catering to the well-to-do in the Austrian capital.But when not seeing patien…
David Hartley's psychobiological associationism and the Legacy of Aristotle
The idea that there are certain "laws"; of learning (similarity, contrast, contiguity) can be traced to Aristotle. He maintained that external stimuli cause small movements in the vessels to the dominant heart, the vestiges of which can be linked to one another. Aristotle's laws of learning were incorporated into the writings of Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley, men who said nothing about the physiological correlates of mental associations. This left …
Medicine in the Arts
STANLEY FINGER, MARK B. LAW; MEDICINE IN THE ARTS: Karl August Weinhold and His “Science” in the Era of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: Experiments on Electri
Konstantin M. Bykov and the Discovery of the Role of the Corpus Callosum
STEPHEN M. KANNE, STANLEY FINGER; Konstantin M. Bykov and the Discovery of the Role of the Corpus Callosum, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied S
The power of a musical instrument
The power of a musical instrument
In 1761 Benjamin Franklin invented the armonica (often referred to as the glass harmonica), an instrument designed to simplify the playing of the musical glasses. The instrument immediately became popular and inspired compositions by Wolfgang Mozart, who had the opportunity to hear and play one at the house of Franz Anton Mesmer. Armonica music was used by Mesmer in his séances, because he felt it could promote healing by propagating a mystical f…
'Dual brain action'
The idea that contrasting states of consciousness or dual personalities may in some way be related to the two hemispheres of the brain drew considerable attention during the nineteenth century, especially after cerebral dominance became accepted in the 1860s. The notion that the better educated and more verbal personality could be associated with the left hemisphere, whereas a more primitive or beast-like personality could be associated with the …
E. George Squier and the Discovery of Cranial Trepanation
STANLEY FINGER, HIRAN R. FERNANDO; E. George Squier and the Discovery of Cranial Trepanation: A Landmark in the History of Surgery and Ancient Medicine, Jo
Trepanation
Benjamin Franklin and shock-induced amnesia
Shock-induced amnesia received considerable attention after Cerletti popularized electroconvulsive shock therapy in the late 1930s. Yet, often overlooked is the fact that Benjamin Franklin recognized that passing electricity through the head could affect memory for the traumatic event. Franklin described his findings on himself and others in several letters from the mid-1700s, 2 of which were published in his lifetime. What he observed was confir…
Brain, Mind and Medicine
The Shocking History of Electric Fishes
This book looks at how three kinds of strongly electric fishes literally became “electrical,” and how they helped to change the sciences and medicine. These fishes are the flat torpedo rays common to the Mediterranean, the electric catfishes of Africa, and an “eel” from South America. The discovery of the electrical nature of these fishes in the second half of the 18th century was the starting point of the two fundamental advances in the sciences…
The Shocking History of Electric Fishes
"This book looks at how three kinds of strongly electric fishes literally became "electrical", and how they helped to change the sciences and medicine. These fishes are the flat torpedo rays common to the Mediterranean, the electric catfishes of Africa, and an "eel" from South America. The discovery of the electrical nature of these fishes in the second half of the 18th century was the starting point of the two fundamental advances in the science…
The Electrical World of Benjamin Franklin
John Walsh’s Scientific Journey
Colonel John Walsh more than anyone else would make electric fish electrical. He was elected into the Royal Society in 1770, being “a Gentleman well acquainted with philosophical & polite literature, & particularly versed in the natural history and antiquities of India”. After his election into the Royal Society, Walsh interacted with the organization's esteemed natural philosophers and electrical scientists. Of these people, Franklin was singula…
Alexander Garden
The previous chapter showed the first of the important North American contributions to the electric fish story, specifically a series of experiments conducted by members of the American Philosophical Society, including one showing that the discharge from an eel could jump a minute gap in a wire, even though no spark was perceived at that time. This chapter now turns to what transpired in South Carolina, and specifically the role played by Alexand…
Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic
Surveying the history of medicine in America from the Columbian exchange to the Civil War, Elaine G. Breslaw's Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic synthesizes the broad literature on an important subject. At the heart of Breslaw's narrative is “the conflict between medicine and the public,” a clash that pitted self-appointed medical elites against a variety of informal healing practices (pp. 185–86). Throughout the era, in Breslaw's telling, statu…
Gall and phrenology
Joseph Gall, as he was called prior to his trip to Paris (Finger and Eling 2019), was born in 1758 in the small town of Tiefenbronn, near the border of Germany's Schwarzwald (Black Forest).After primary school, although pressured to become a priest, he went to Strasbourg to study medicine.In 1785, he completed his medical education in Vienna and began a private practice catering to the well-to-do in the Austrian capital.But when not seeing patien…
Mark Twain's life-long fascination with phrenology
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain; 1835-1910), American humorist and writer, followed scientific and medical developments, and relished exposing questionable practices and ideas. In his youth, he pondered how phrenologists were assessing character, and in 1855 he copied sections of a phrenology book and a skull diagram into a notebook. Later, in London, he had two phrenological examinations by Lorenzo Fowler-one without and the other after ide…
Franz Joseph Gall's non-cortical faculties and their organs
Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) is remembered for his claims that behavior results from a large number of independent mental faculties, and that these faculties are associated with cortical organs. Apart from the 26 faculties he localized in the cerebrum, he also recognized one faculty (reproductive drive) in the cerebellum. This picture, however, is based on Gall's presentations in his well-known later works, his four volume Anatomie et Physiologi…
The quest for objectivity and measurements in phrenology’s “bumpy” history
Phrenology is based on correlating character traits with visible or palpable cranial bumps (or depressions) thought to reflect underlying brain areas differing in size and levels of activity. Franz Joseph Gall, who introduced the doctrine during the 1790s, relied heavily on seeing and feeling skulls when he formulated his theory, as did Johann Spurzheim, who served as his assistant until 1813 and then set forth on his own. But Peter Mark Roget, a…
Franz Joseph Gall on God and religion
Franz Joseph Gall's (1758-1828) doctrine of many faculties of mind with corresponding cortical organs led him to be accused of materialism, fatalism, and even atheism. Yet little has been written about the specific charges he felt forced to respond to in Vienna, while visiting the German States, or in Paris, where he published his books. This article examines these accusations and Gall's responses. It also looks at what Gall wrote about a cortica…
Mark Twain, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Head Readers
Jean-Martin Charcot and Scandinavian literature
French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, a towering figure familiar to late-19th-century physicians, became better known to the laity of different countries through periodicals, books, and plays. This article examines how Charcot influenced the works of four popular Scandinavian authors: Norwegians Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Hans Ernst Kinck, and Øvre Richter Frich, and a Swede, Axel Munthe. These popular novelists and playwrights, all having lived in…
Art (12 obras) · Art history (12 obras) · History (11 obras) · Psychology (11 obras) · Philosophy (10 obras) · Medicine (8 obras) · Psychoanalysis (8 obras) · Neurology and Historical Studies (7 obras) · Biology (6 obras) · History of Medicine Studies (5 obras)