Studium (Rotterdam, Netherlands)最新文献

Leprosy was highly prevalent among African slaves in the Dutch West Indian colony of Suriname. Largely based on observations in Suriname, Dutch physicians described the aetiology of leprosy in terms of'a substrate' to which all sorts of mixtures of infection, heredity and hygiene contributed ('seed and soil'). This explanatory model with multiple options for prevention and treatment left room for different developmental trajectories to control the spread of the disease in the various tropical colonies of the Dutch empire. In Suriname there was a growing worry in the 19th century regarding the spread of leprosy, threatening the health of slaves, settlers and colonial administrators. And this could be harmful to an already weakening plantation economy. This concern prompted the local administration to develop a rigorous policy of strict isolation of leprosy sufferers. This, in turn, intersected with a changing insight in Europe - including the Netherlands - that leprosy was non-contagious. However,'in splendid isolation' in the economically and politically marginal colony Suriname, Dutch physicians like Charles Landre and his son, Charles Louis Drognat Landré, could afford to ignore the European non-contagious approach and continue to support the strict isolation policies. Moreover, they developed a dissident radical explanation of leprosy as a disease caused only by contagion. In the absence of a receptive Dutch audience Drognat Landré published his contagion theory in French and so succeeded in inspiring the Norwegian Hansen, who subsequently discovered the culpable micro-organism. At the same time colonial administrators and physicians in the economically and politically important Dutch colonies in the East Indies adhered to the prevailing European concept and changed policies: the system of isolation was abolished. Given the rather different trajectories of leprosy health policies in the Dutch East and West Indies we point out the importance of a comparative approach.

Knowledge circulation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was not only stimulated by the mutual interaction of trade and science. In the context of territorial expansion, war, and the activities of privateers and pirates, knowledge of diseases and drugs in the tropics was increased as well. An important part in this process was performed by so-called 'buccaneer-scientists': adventurers with medical and scientific backgrounds and/or interest who operated on the cultural borders in different parts of the hemisphere. The characteristics of this type of contributor to Early Modern knowledge circulation are explored and analyzed in the example of Scottish surgeon and pirate Lionel Wafer (c. 1660 - c. 1705). The buccaneer scientist had to share the passions of other scientists, resulting in accurate and detailed empirical observation; be able to judge the relevance of observations and 'facts'; be part of a context that stimulates these observations; be capable of describing of these observations; and be part of a network of dissemination of observations. His activities should have an important practical and pragmatic component stimulating trade, expansion and even piracy. And he should possess personal characteristics such as perseverance, a healthy constitution, and ruthlessness, to work and survive in a violent and traumatic environment. Wafer is typical for other 'buccaneer-scientists' of this period--not only pirates and privateers, but also physicians and natural explorers operating in other and more 'respectable' areas of the European overseas expansion.

The struggle against the sleeping sickness in Congo was the major reason for the opening of a School of Tropical Medicine (1906). The edition of new statutes in 1931 at the moment of the transfer to Antwerp conformed the autonomous and neutral character of the Institute. On the other hand, as the person responsible to the community represented by the Ministery of Colonies and--later--the Ministery of Education, she had to publish an annual report on their activities and finances.After the independence of the colony (1960) the teaching and research policy accentuated development aid, and in particular the fight against tropical disease (malaria, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis...) and HIV (AIDS and Tuberculosis). The Institute delivers postgraduate and master's degrees. Each year, two hundred doctors and nurses attend its classes, and around a hundred students from over the world prepare for their medical degree. The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp is a'center of excellence' and an important component in an international network that aims for 'Health for all'.

A computer seems an indispensable tool among twenty-first century households. Computers however, did not come as manna from heaven. The domestication and appropriation of computers in Dutch households was a result of activities by various intermediary actors. Computers became household commodities only gradually. Technophile computer hobbyists imported the first computers into the Netherlands from the USA, and started small businesses from 1975 onwards. They developed a social network in which computer technology was made available for use by individuals. This network extended itself via shops, clubs, magazines, and other means of acquiring and exchanging computer hard- and software. Hobbyist culture established the software-copying habits of private computer users as well as their ambivalence to commercial software. They also made the computer into a game machine. Under the impulse of a national policy that aimed at transforming society into an 'Information Society', clubs and other actors extended their activities and tailored them to this new agenda. Hobby clubs presented themselves as consumer organizations and transformed into intermediary actors that filled the gap between suppliers and a growing group of users. They worked hard to give meaning to (proper) use of computers. A second impulse to the increasing use of computers in the household came from so-called 'private-PC' projects in the late 1980s. In these projects employers financially aided employees in purchasing their own private PCs'. The initially important intermediary actors such as hobby clubs lost control and the agenda for personal computers was shifted to interoperability with office equipment. IBM compatible PC's flooded the households. In the household the new equipment blended with the established uses, such as gaming. The copying habits together with the PC standard created a risky combination in which computer viruses could spread easily. New roles arose for intermediary actors in guiding and educating computer users. The activities of intermediaries had a lasting influence on contemporary computer use and user preferences. Technical choices and the nature of Dutch computer use in households can be explained by analyzing the historical developments of intermediaries and users.

In the agricultural journal De Nieuwe Veldbode of 1941 Dutch scientists, agricultural engineers, commercial cattle breeders and herd-book officials engaged in a prolonged debate about cattle breeding methods. Geneticist Arend Hagedoorn started the debate by accusing commercial breeders of deceiving their buyers. In his view, breeders were merely interested in producing beautiful show bulls that could be sold for high prices, and they ignored the animals' hereditary potential for milk production. Rational breeding, he argued, required progeny testing: only the production of his daughters should decide on a bull's merits. Commercial breeders denied the charge. They did indeed select for conformation, not however for aesthetic reasons, but to safeguard the health and durability of the breed. In their view, selecting for production was not feasible in practice and would, moreover, lead to the degeneration of the breed. In this article I explore the backgrounds of this debate by investigating the different views of scientists and practical breeders on theory and practice of cattle breeding in the first half of the century. I shall show that to understand the different viewpoints, the practical realities of dairy farming under Dutch circumstances, commercial considerations and normative ideas on good farming have to be taken into account.