Exploring the Work of James Edgar Higgins at the Midwest Junto for the History of Science

Greetings from the 64th meeting of the Midwest Junto for the History of Science!

Historians of science from across the region have gathered @TrumanState for a day full of #histSTM presentations. Junto President Peter Ramberg kicks things off w/introductory remarks.#Junto23 pic.twitter.com/yNl94G44wc

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Our first #Junto23 speaker is Henry Jacob (@Cambridge_Uni), who is discussing the work of James Edgar Higgins, director of the Summit Plant Introduction Gardens in #Panama.

(Jacob visited @LindaHall_org several years ago to look at the A.B. Nichols #PanamaCanal collection.) pic.twitter.com/Q693WXSDmX

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Jacob focuses on Higgins’ efforts to cultivate new crops (teak, pineapple & rubber) at the Summit Garden.

This example of botanical imperialism built upon earlier European precedents and corporate capitalism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.#Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

“Visitors feel as if they were really in the jungle when they walk down this shady path in Summit Park.”

Over time, Summit changed from a site for agricultural experimentation to a public garden. Today it has been converted to an animal refuge. #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/trtY5TZn4P

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Our next speaker, Victor Monnin (@illinoistech) is discussing paleontologist Charles Sternberg.

He’s specifically interested in Sternberg’s autobiography (“Life of a Fossil Hunter”), which contributed to a larger #eugenics discourse in 20th c. America.#paleontology #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/gjY8IuefDa

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Monnin notes that #paleontology & geosciences are really struggling to diversify.

He calls attention to @beardedladyproj, which attempts to deconstruct the exclusive personas associated w/those fields.https://t.co/sVsI0S8v85#Junto23 pic.twitter.com/qDnV6gsma1

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Monnin summarizes Sternberg’s scientific career, which began during the (in-)famous#BoneWars of the late 19th c. & led to collaborations w/@AMNH and its president (& eugenics advocate) Henry Fairfield Osborn.

More on Sternberg via @LindaHall_org: https://t.co/YgnckbkrnT #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/MtjGxJh3iC

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Monnin: Sternberg’s memoir establishes key tropes associated w/paleontology (“a distinctively American profession”)

1) Embracing adventure (like in a novel!)
2) The hunter’s mentality
3) Early/absolute dedication to science
4) Risk-taking behavior
5) Self-sacrifice#Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Monnin’s ultimate goal: Deconstructing the mixed media fossil hunter persona, as embodied in photographs, memoirs, and popular culture.

(For example, one can draw a line b/w Sternberg’s memoir and #JurassicPark’s Alan Grant…)#Junto23 pic.twitter.com/5vQ7EHEyq7

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@michele_pflug asks Monnin a great question about the specifically *American* nature of this paleontologist persona.

Monnin suggests that this merits further exploration, along w/the contrast b/w “gentlemen adventurers” and the stereotypical American frontiersman. #Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

The final speaker of this panel is @k8shep. Her paper focuses on Amelia Edwards’ lecture 1890-91 lecture tour, which inspired broader American interest in ancient Egypt.

More on Edwards via @trowelblazers: https://t.co/V1Xqw9XCvE#Junto23 #Egyptology pic.twitter.com/tdpceWbsuJ

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@k8shep suggests Edwards’ American tour reflected the broader popularity of lectures by public intellectuals in 19th c. America.

She also highlights the involvement of Edwards’ companion Kate Bradbury, who oversaw many of the logistical aspects of the trip.#Junto23 pic.twitter.com/PTkOFuzsPH

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@k8shep concludes by asking how one should measure the success of a science lecture tour?

She notes Edwards & Bradbury did more than educate the public: they fanned sparks of interest in ancient Egypt into flames, raised $, set stage for emergence of US #Egyptology. #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/iOMEkkBU8M

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

As an aside, one of the organizations that sponsored Edwards’ tour was the Sorosis Club—the 1st professional women’s club in the US.

(Not be confused with the Cirrhosis Club, which is presumably for people suffering from liver disease.)https://t.co/Tk77iBnTOi#Junto23 #badpun

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

After a brief coffee break, we move on to the 2nd #Junto23 session of the morning.

We begin w/a talk on the mathematics of barrel gauging by @GuySechrist (@DonnellyCollege). He begins w/a discussion of gauging and its links to early modern commerce & accounting practices. pic.twitter.com/wI7bJUe7QF

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@GuySechrist is specifically interested in #Kepler’s work on gauging, but he begins w/something far removed from the mundane realities of the marketplace: the geometric model of the universe presented in Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596).#Junto23 pic.twitter.com/JOJDYzItDB

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@GuySechrist notes that after #Kepler moved to Linz, he became interested in applying geometric methods from Mysterium to practical problems (i.e., gauging) & demonstrating value of math to both cosmic & mundane problems. #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/Q7tkwd2WYu

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@GuySechrist highlights important features of Kepler’s 1615 book on gauging (Nova stereometria), e.g., inclusion of pre-calculated tables of wine barrel volumes.

(The full text of this book is available in @LindaHall_org’s digital collections: https://t.co/60ogvRs5t6) #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/tEwKjuWFsN

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Moving now to our 2nd speaker, @IAStranger (@BrownUniversity), who is looking at the mathematical procedures that Babylonian astronomers used to determine the positions of the moon & planets. She is approaching these texts through an algorithmic lens.#Junto23 #astronomy pic.twitter.com/nZtnOL4cJV

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@IAStranger focuses on a specific tablet (MUL.APIN), which includes an intercalation procedure that ensures the calendar remains synced up w/the seasons.

Mezaros examines specific language used in this text & notes possibility of reframing as an algorithm. #Junto23 #astronomy pic.twitter.com/eDaVGucuyk

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@IAStranger: Examining these early astronomical texts highlights differences in language, mathematical practice, and the role of observational data in ancient & modern exact sciences.#Junto23 pic.twitter.com/MWQ3BX1Zdr

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

The final speaker of this session, @KendylSchmidtHx (@SLU_Official) is writing a dissertation on debates over dissection & medical training in antebellum America.

Her presentation is focused on syndicated fiction related to these topics that appeared in U.S. newspapers. #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/cGd8uIgIkn

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@KendylSchmidtHx: Short stories about resurrectionism, dissection & medical education would be juxtaposed w/news reports and advertisements, blurring the line b/w fact & fiction.#Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@KendylSchmidtHx: Short stories captured the realities of resurrectionism—e.g., easier to rob the graves of poor people—but also redacted key details that added verisimilitude to the narrative while piquing readers’ interest. (Was this happening in their communities?) #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/6yvZBV6MOK

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@Sarah_Nara asks @KendylSchmidtHx about the extent that race played into antebellum anxiety surrounding grave robbing.

A: Race is generally not mentioned explicitly in these newspapers, but the stories deploy racially inflected standards of beauty & literary tropes.#Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Almost time for the next #Junto23 session.

FYI, I’ll be chairing the session so my livetweeting may be somewhat sporadic…

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

The first speaker in this #Junto23 session is Peter Ramberg (@TrumanState), the president of the Midwest Junto. His presentation focuses on the emergence of analytical #chemistry in the first decades of the 19th c.#chemistry #histSTM pic.twitter.com/g9r0dMrNmY

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Ramberg: There was a growing state interest in trained chemists who could test the purity of pharmaceuticals, etc.

This interest in analytical #chemistry is reflected in the proliferation of textbooks (1790-1862). Ramberg has found 34 sources in HathiTrust/GoogleBooks. #Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Ramberg: By the 1820s “analytical chemistry” had begun to appear in the titles of handbooks like this one by Christian Heinrich Pfaff.#Junto23 #chemistry pic.twitter.com/XugnWNT2jo

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

#TIL that Swedish chemist Torbern Bergmann is normally credited with the first use of the word “reagents”, but Johann Joachim Becher also uses the term in his Physica Subterrane (1669).#Junto23 #chemistry pic.twitter.com/SSMWu3GVcb

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Ramberg concludes: By the 1820s, growing professionalization of chemists, new vocabulary (updated discourse re: reagents, quantitative vs. qualitative analysis) & improved identification techniques facilitated emergence of analytical chemistry.#Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Our next speaker, Liz Root (@hstm_umn), who is discussing medical chemistry and attempts to develop treatments during the yellow fever epidemic that struck Philadelphia in 1793.#histmed #Junto23 pic.twitter.com/TIRwbQ35AA

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Root notes that although the humoral system was no longer popular in the 18th c., some physicians continued to treat the body as a system of moving fluids.

See, for example, Boerhaave’s embrace of Sylvius’ theories re: insoluble masses that impeded fluid flow—>symptoms#Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

Root concludes: Benjamin Rush never doubted the cure of his mercurial purge, but some of his later publications warned against overuse of his powders.

(This suggests that he had heard about cases of patients dealing w/side-effects from his treatments.)#Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

“I’ll attempt to make this as appealing as possible while talking about glandular swelling…”@Sarah_Nara begins her #Junto23 presentation examining the history of endemic goiter, a highly gendered endocrine disorder that was historically associated w/mental health.#histmed pic.twitter.com/BqhLcl3TpK

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023

.@Sarah_Nara: Debates over the cause of endemic goiter persisted even after the isolation of iodine and tests confirming its utility as a treatment.

These discussions frequently invoked Progressive era eugenics rhetoric as well as recent advances in public health.#Junto23

— Ben Gross (@bhgross144) March 11, 2023