Science in the twentieth century and beyond

The aim of this study was to analyse systematically the public opinion-leading press coverage of the application of genetic engineering in a comparative perspective. This article presents the results of an international analysis of the public debate about genetic engineering from 1991 to 1996 in Germany, France, the UK and the USA. The results show that in reporting genetic engineering across national borders, routine and time-tested mechanisams for the management of conflicts in this area have been established. Contradicting a widespread assumption, scientific input into the public discourse is far away from being ignored. In fact it dominates the public area in a way that no other actor does. The study shows that especially the coverage of the topic by the German media does not deserve its bad reputation. Its typical feature is rather normality in the sense of a critical benefit-orientation. Especially the German opinion-leading media (Spiegal, Zeit) reflect transnational developments from multiple perspectives and enigmatically.     

The colour line and the colour scale in the twentieth century

Some more recent evidence supports Du Bois’ prediction that the twentieth century would prove the century of the colour line. It indicates that men have always and everywhere shown a preference for fair complexioned women as sexual partners, whereas males seeking a mate are rarely disadvantaged by a dark complexion. In the employment market in the USA, a dark complexion is a significant disadvantage for both males and females. Though there is no properly comparable evidence from other countries, there appears to be a widespread tendency for any negative valuation of darker skin colour to be incorporated into a scale of socio-economic status. In some situations a colour scale is replacing the colour line.

Du Bois’ reference to differences of colour has been largely superseded in English-speaking countries by references to differences of race. From a policy standpoint, the switch from colour to race has had both positive and negative consequences. From a sociological standpoint, it has made it more difficult to disaggregate the dimensions of social difference and to dispel the confusions engendered by ideas of racial difference.     

Why the crested ibis declined in the middle twentieth century

The crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) had declined severely from a common species to only two pairs in last century. To analyze the declining process, we established a GIS database with historical occurrences of the crested ibis based on published literatures, and layers of environmental factors such as elevation, wetland, and human activities. We compared the environmental factors at the occurrence sites in different periods to quantify the changes of habitat use across time. To address the spatial deviation of the occurrences and check the effect of measuring scale on habitat use, we calculated the environmental factors in a serial measuring scales from 1 to 161 × 161 km². Our results indicated that the crested ibis traditionally lives in habitat with higher wetland density and higher human impact, then it gradually moved to areas with higher elevation and lower human impact in last century. In 1980–2000 the crested ibis stayed at a very high elevation, lower wetland density and lower human impact as possible consequences of human activities such as using fertilizer and pesticide, drying the over wintering rice paddies, and direct hunting. Our quantitative analysis of the habitat use matched well the previous published statements (which have no numerical evidences) on the declination of the crested ibis. We suggest to reestablish the habitat with traditional farming practice that the bird has adapted as a major solution for applications such as conservation planning and reintroduction.     

Water temperature behaviour in the River Danube during the twentieth century

Monthly mean water temperatures in the River Danube at Linz, Austria during the period 1901–1990 have been investigated in relation to equivalent information on air temperature and river discharge. Statistical analysis revealed a significant increase in monthly mean water temperatures of 0.8 °C and showed strongest rises in mean values for autumn and early winter months. No statistically significant trends were evident for air temperature or river discharge, and rising water temperatures are likely to reflect increasing human modification of the river system. A strong overall correlation between monthly mean water and air temperatures at Linz was made up of a series of more scattered and less steep water/air temperature relationships for individual months, while the influence of snowmelt runoff depressed average water temperatures in the spring and early summer period by 1.5 °C. Multiple regression relationships developed for individual months from data on air temperature, river discharge and time trend during the study period were able to predict monthly mean water temperatures in 1991 and 1992 with a root mean square error of 0.5 °C. These regression equations, when combined with scenarios of future changes in air temperature and river flow as a consequence of global warming, suggest that only modest rises in monthly mean water temperature will be experienced in the River Danube by the end of the present century, but that increases of > 1 °C for all months, and > 2 °C for the autumn period of low flows, can be anticipated by the year 2030.     

Surgery and national identity in late nineteenth-century Vienna

For historians of medicine, the professor Theodor Billroth of the University of Vienna was the leading European surgeon of the late nineteenth century and the personification of intervention by organ or body part removal. For social and political historians, he was a German nationalist whose book on medical education heralded the rise of anti-Semitism in the Austrian public sphere. This article brings together and critically reassesses these two hitherto separate accounts to show how, in a period of dramatic social and political change, Viennese surgery split into two camps. One, headed by Billroth, was characterized by an alliance with the German educational model, German nationalism leading to racial anti-Semitism and an experimental approach to the construction of surgical procedure, which heavily relied on the methods of pathological physiology. The other, which followed a long Austrian tradition, stood for a clinically oriented and strictly organized medical education that catered to an ethnically and socially diverse population and, simultaneously, for an anatomically oriented surgery, largely of the locomotor apparatus. This study shows how, in a major centre of medical education and capital of a multiethnic empire, surgical and national identities were forged together.     

African tropical rainforest net carbon dioxide fluxes in the twentieth century

The African humid tropical biome constitutes the second largest rainforest region, significantly impacts global carbon cycling and climate, and has undergone major changes in functioning owing to climate and land-use change over the past century. We assess changes and trends in CO₂ fluxes from 1901 to 2010 using nine land surface models forced with common driving data, and depict the inter-model variability as the uncertainty in fluxes. The biome is estimated to be a natural (no disturbance) net carbon sink (−0.02 kg C m⁻² yr⁻¹ or −0.04 Pg C yr⁻¹, p < 0.05) with increasing strength fourfold in the second half of the century. The models were in close agreement on net CO₂ flux at the beginning of the century (σ₁₉₀₁ = 0.02 kg C m⁻² yr⁻¹), but diverged exponentially throughout the century (σ₂₀₁₀ = 0.03 kg C m⁻² yr⁻¹). The increasing uncertainty is due to differences in sensitivity to increasing atmospheric CO₂, but not increasing water stress, despite a decrease in precipitation and increase in air temperature. However, the largest uncertainties were associated with the most extreme drought events of the century. These results highlight the need to constrain modelled CO₂ fluxes with increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and extreme climatic events, as the uncertainties will only amplify in the next century.     

Plastic body,permanent body: Czech representations of corporeality in the early twentieth century

In the early twentieth century, the body was seen as both an ontogenetic and a phylogenetic entity. In the former case, its individual development, it was manifestly changeable, developing from embryo to maturity and thence to a state of decay. But in the latter case, concerning its development as a species, the question was an open one. Was its phylogenetic nature a stationary snapshot of the slow process of evolution, or was this too mutable? Historians have emphasised that the question of acquired inheritance remained open into the twentieth century; this paper explores how various constructions of the individual as a phylogenetic episode—a stage in the race’s evolution—related to representations of the body in the same period.A discussion of the work of the brothers Josef and Karel Čapek offers a contextualised answer to the question of bodily representation. Karel Čapek (1890–1938) explored the nature of the ‘average man’ through two different organisms, the robot and the amphibian, epitomes respectively of corporeal permanence and plasticity. Josef Čapek (1887–1945), along with other members of the Group of Plastic Artists, explored visual representations of the body that challenged cubist Bergsonian norms. In so doing, he affirmed what his brother also held: that despite the constrictions imposed by the oppressive political conditions in which the Czechs found themselves, the individual body was a fragile but fluid entity, capable of effecting change upon the future evolution of humankind.     

Changes in the skull morphology of the Arctic wolf, Canis lupus arctos, during the twentieth century

Measurements of a large series of skulls of the Arctic wolf, Canis lupus arctos . have shown that since 1930 there has been an overall reduction in the size of the skulls, together with widening of the cranium, shortening of the facial region, and reduction in size of the teeth. This suggests that hybridization and subsequent introgression occurred with huskies ( Canis familiaris ) during the 1930s, which is consistent with historical accounts. Since 1950 there has been a reversion in skull morphology to a more 'wolf-like' form, suggesting that hybridization is no longer occurring.
The skull of a wolf/dog hybrid is intermediate in size between the skulls of wolves and huskies but its shape is allometrically dissimilar. Skulls of wolves from the period 1930–50 are moi-e similar to the skull of this hybrid than in the other time periods.
The skull of a male canid from a carcass collected on Ellesmere Island and presented to the Natural History Museum. London, in 1986 was at first thought to be from a wolf/dog hybrid but analyses of the measurements show that it is more likely to be from an Arctic wolf with severe abnormalities to the jaws.     

Decadal change in wetland–woodland boundaries during the late 20th century reflects climatic trends

Wetlands are important and restricted habitats for dependent biota and play vital roles in landscape function, hydrology and carbon sequestration. They are also likely to be one of the most sensitive components of the terrestrial biosphere to global climate change. An understanding of relationships between wetland persistence and climate is imperative for predicting, mitigating and adapting to the impacts of future climate change on wetland extent and function. We investigated whether mire wetlands had contracted, expanded or remained stable during 1960–2000. We chose a study area encompassing a regional climatic gradient in southeastern Australia, specifically to avoid confounding effects of water extraction on wetland hydrology and extent. We first characterized trends in climate by examining data from local weather stations, which showed a slight increase in precipitation and marked decline in pan evaporation over the relevant period. Remote sensing of vegetation boundaries showed a marked lateral expansion of mires during 1961–1998, and a corresponding contraction of woodland. The spatial patterns in vegetation change were consistent with the regional climatic gradient and showed a weaker co‐relationship to fire history. Resource exploitation, wildland fires and autogenic mire development failed to explain the observed expansion of mire vegetation in the absence of climate change. We therefore conclude that the extent of mire wetlands is likely to be sensitive to variation in climatic moisture over decadal time scales. Late 20th‐century trends in climatic moisture may be related primarily to reduced irradiance and/or reduced wind speeds. In the 21st century, however, net climatic moisture in this region is projected to decline. As mires are apparently sensitive to hydrological change, we anticipate lateral contraction of mire boundaries in coming decades as projected climatic drying eventuates. This raises concerns about the future hydrological functions, carbon storage capacity and unique biodiversity of these important ecosystems.     

An outbreak in France in the XVIIIth century: rinderpest

Long regarded as the major disease of cattle, rinderpest is now eradicated. It was inflicting from 60 to 90% mortality on livestock. Installed in Asia, it arrived in France in waves, but never became endemic there. Four outbreaks of rinderpest hit the country during the eighteenth century. Their geographical extension has been reconstituted. They forced the State to devise the consistent set of health actions the nineteenth century benefited before the advent of microbiology.     

Faunal isotope records reveal trophic and nutrient dynamics in twentieth century Yellowstone grasslands

Population sizes and movement patterns of ungulate grazers and their predators have fluctuated dramatically over the past few centuries, largely owing to overharvesting, land-use change and historic management. We used δ(13)C and δ(15)N values measured from bone collagen of historic and recent gray wolves and their potential primary prey from Yellowstone National Park to gain insight into the trophic dynamics and nutrient conditions of historic and modern grasslands. The diet of reintroduced wolves closely parallels that of the historic population. We suggest that a significant shift in faunal δ(15)N values over the past century reflects impacts of anthropogenic environmental changes on grassland ecosystems, including grazer-mediated shifts in grassland nitrogen cycle processes.     

Standardizing psychotropic drugs and drug practices in the twentieth century: paradox of order and disorder

According to ongoing historical research, standardizing the production and consumption of psychotropic drugs is a process fraught with contradictions and inconsistencies. Both the construction and change of drug standards can be highly unsettling events and do not necessarily lead to more order. The balance between order and disorder appears to be rather fragile and paradoxically at all stages in the evolution of standards we see order–disorder transitions.     

Towards an anthropometric history of latin America in the second half of the twentieth century

We examine the evolution of adult female heights in twelve Latin American countries during the second half of the twentieth century based on demographic health surveys and related surveys compiled from national and international organizations. Only countries with more than one survey were included, allowing us to cross-examine surveys and correct for biases. We first show that average height varies significantly according to location, from 148.3 cm in Guatemala to 158.8 cm in Haiti. The evolution of heights over these decades behaves like indicators of human development, showing a steady increase of 2.6 cm from the 1950s to the 1990s. Such gains compare favorably to other developing regions of the world, but not so much with recently developed countries. Height gains were not evenly distributed in the region, however. Countries that achieved higher levels of income, such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, gained on average 0.9 cm per decade, while countries with shrinking economies, such as Haiti and Guatemala, only gained 0.25 cm per decade.     

Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

European colonial efforts to pacify 'rebellious' Iban in western Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries produced chronic resource insecurity and may have contributed to the recorded destructiveness of Iban swidden cultivation. Negative European opinions towards swiddening may have thus been reinforced by a context that the Europeans themselves created. Drawing on anthropological theories linking swidden cultivation and Iban warfare, this article presents a historical case for the relationship between pacification, resource insecurity, and swidden destructiveness. It also re-evaluates Derek Freeman's original diagnosis of Iban as 'prodigal' farmers, suggesting that there may have been more to Iban pioneering destruction than the wide availability of 'virgin' forest.     

A historical synopsis of farm animal disease and public policy in twentieth century Britain

The diseases suffered by British livestock, and the ways in which they were perceived and managed by farmers, vets and the state, changed considerably over the course of the twentieth century. This paper documents and analyses these changes in relation to the development of public policy. It reveals that scientific knowledge and disease demographics cannot by themselves explain the shifting boundaries of state responsibility for animal health, the diseases targeted and the preferred modes of intervention. Policies were shaped also by concerns over food security and the public's health, the state of the national and livestock economy, the interests and expertise of the veterinary profession, and prevailing agricultural policy. This paper demonstrates how, by precipitating changes to farming and trading practices, public policy could sometimes actually undermine farm animal health. Animal disease can therefore be viewed both as a stimulus to, and a consequence of, twentieth century public policy.     

Stature, economy and migration during the 19th century: Comparative analysis of Haute-Vienne and Hautes-Alpes, France

Data sources are achieved records of men workers' passbooks and registry for work permits in two rural parts of Southern France. We obtained three samples: masons from Rancon, a Limousin village, local sedentary alpine workers and Italian immigrants. The results obtained provide two types of information. The first concerns adult height, which is thought to be a result of both a growth pattern and environmental factors. The second concerns growth rates at the end of adolescence. The results seem to contradict the statements made above concerning the relationships between misery, elevation and height. While the alpine inhabitants are shorter, the Limousin inhabitants are taller in sprite they live in a miserable environment. It appears that taller individuals select themselves into migration. Thus, this model would contradict the idea of a regional genetic base.