Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T02:21:21.499Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Serialized Laboratories : Laboratory Journals and the Making of Modern Science and Scientific Publishing, 1840s–1950s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2023

Ernst Homburg
Affiliation:
Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands
Get access

Summary

Abstract

From the 1860s to the mid-twentieth century, many academic and private research laboratories issued their own serial publications. These ‘house journals’ seem to have proliferated especially in the European periphery. On the basis of a few (mainly Dutch) examples, this chapter explores the emergence and contents of house journals, their purposes and functions, and their place in the evolution of the scientific periodical press. It aims to shed light on the historical importance and meaning of the genre of laboratory journals, particularly in relation to transformations in the nature of the university, scientific authority and scientific authorship, knowledge communities, and the media landscape of science.

Keywords: laboratory journals, scientific publishing, serialized print, scientific communities, scientific modernity

Introduction

In 2018 the 200th birth anniversary of the illustrious Dutch physiologist and ophthalmologist Frans Donders (1818–1889) was celebrated at several institutes in the Netherlands. In a commemorative essay published for the occasion, Donders is presented as ‘the epitome of the values of modern physiology’. Highlighted are his achievements as laboratory scientist, laboratory leader, author of hundreds of research reports, and co-founder of various journals. In 1891, writing at the height of science’s transition to modernity, Barend Stokvis made a similar assessment. In his obituary of Donders, issued by the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, he went to great lengths to praise the publishing strategies of his former tutor. Although the physiologist had read close to a hundred communications at meetings of the Royal Academy, only six of his papers appeared in the Academy’s proceedings. His preference for non-society journals (including foreign ones) had, according to Stokvis, not only enhanced his own prestige but also the scientific reputation of his laboratory and his country. One such journal was the Onderzoekingen, gedaan in het Physiologisch Laboratorium der Utrechtsche Hoogeschool, launched in 1848 by Donders himself. Stokvis emphasized the value of this periodical, while at the same time wondering if series of collected papers of laboratories could be considered ‘real journals’.

By the end of the nineteenth century, institutional laboratories had become essential components of all the major scientific disciplines. Many academic and private research laboratories issued their own serial publications, which were often nearly as old as the institutes themselves.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×