. In modern discourse about the history of science, it seems to be widely accepted that at the end of the nineteenth century, Germany was one of the leading countries in the production of science. In the past, historians of science tried to trace back a specific ‘German style’ of science that—in combination with other factors—determined this German dominance around 1900, especially in the life sciences. Considering the theoretical concept of ‘national styles’, it has to be kept in mind that around 1900, contemporaries already proclaimed ‘national styles’ of science as representations of national identity. Thus, the question arises as to how far existing historiographical conceptions of national styles may include earlier claims and prejudices. Careful reconstructions of contemporary discourses on national styles and inquiries into the ‘stylisation’ of a dominant, successful ‘German style’ are necessary. One of the contemporary critics of a ‘German style’ of science was the physiologist Jacques Loeb (1859–1924), who emigrated to the USA in 1891. Loeb corresponded regularly with the physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach (1838–1916). Ernst Mach can be considered Loeb's intellectual father with whom he corresponded about strategic, philosophical, and epistemological questions. Using the Loeb–Mach correspondence, the aim of the paper is to reconstruct Loeb's conception of a ‘German style’ of science and its differences to an ‘American style’. Changes in his views are discussed as well as the roots of his views and some of their consequences. Finally, Loeb's ideas on national styles and his working profiles before and after his emigration are compared to historiographical analyses of ‘American’ or ‘German’ styles of science around 1900.
Tears and crying as a genuine expression of human feelings have aroused the attention of artists and literati for many centuries, but the medical principles have only received little attention for a long time. In this article the developing explanation and the various interpretations of this phenomenon will be demonstrated in combination with their dependence on the respective knowledge of anatomy and physiology. The antique conception of the lacrimal apparatus and the significance of tears in the Middle and Baroque Ages with respect to the history of salvation will also be discussed as well as the search for the lacrimal organ and the mechanical interpretation of lacrimation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Moreover, the discussion on the benefits and disadvantages of tears will be followed and the new turn which led to the explanation of the phenomenon under the influence of the theory of evolution will be emphasized.
A unfavourable notice written by industrial magnate Alfred Krupp (1812-1887) has been discovered on the posterior cover sheet of the first volume of the monumental series Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel, edited by the Zoological Station at Naples (1880) Krupp's handwritten statement affords the opportunity to discuss in more detail the intricate relationship between the founder of the first marine biology station, Anton Dohrn (1840-1909), and the owner of the greatest steel factory in Europe, the Krupp-family at Essen. Although Anton Dohrn did not know about Krupp's disapproving comment he had a fine unerring instinct for the mentality of his negotiating partner, whose way of thinking rather aimed at the practical success and completion of armament factory, preventing thus a the serious rapprochement between the two personalities. Even when the Krupp-heir, Friedrich Alfred Krupp, later devoted to questions about marine biology in his new built house at Capri, and was willing to support the Zoological Station with high sponsoring, Anton Dohrn maintained a reserved attitude towards the Krupp's offer to support the marine research financially. Likewise, he remained unimpressed, when the steel magnate was shook by the smear campaign in Capri that ultimately led to Krupp's death in November 1902.
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