scholarly journals Understanding the human brain: A lifetime of dedicated pursuit

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenjie Xia
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Montreal Neurological Institute ◽  
Temporal Lobes ◽  
Important Landmark ◽  
Mcgill University ◽  
Distinguished Contribution ◽  
The University ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

As a pioneer in the field of neuropsychology, Dr. Brenda Milner has contributed to many important landmark discoveries in the study of memory and temporal lobes, the lateralization of hemispheric function in language, as well as the role of frontal lobes in problem-solving. She is a fellow of the Royal Society (London) and the Royal Society of Canada, and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (USA). She has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards throughout her career, the latest of which include the Donald O. Hebb Distinguished Contribution Award in 2001, the Neuroscience Award from the United States National Academy of Science in 2004 and the Gairdner Award in 2005. Dr. Milner received her undergraduate degree at the University of Cambridge in 1939 and completed her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Donald Hebb at McGill University in 1952. She joined the Montreal Neurological Institute in 1950 to work with Dr. Wilder Penfield. Dr. Milner is presently the Dorothy J. Killam Professor of Psychology at the Montreal Neurological Institute and the Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery of McGill University. I spent an afternoon with Dr. Milner on May 12th, 2006, where she shared with me her thoughts on her work, her perspective on the past and future of cognitive neuroscience, as well as her advice for students beginning in research.

Otto Meyerhof, 1884 - 1951

1954 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-200 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nobel Prize ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Artistic Development ◽  
School Life ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Long Period ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Foreign Member

Otto Meyerhof was born on 12 April 1884 in Berlin and died in Philadelphia on 6 October 1951 at the age of 67; he was the son of Felix Meyerhof, who was born in 1849 at Hildesheim, and Bettina Meyerhof, nee May, born in 1862 in Hamburg; both his father and grandfather had been in business. An elder sister and two younger brothers died long before him. In 1923 he shared the Nobel prize for Physiology (for 1922) with A. V. Hill. He received an Hon. D.C.L. in 1926 from the University of Edinburgh, was a Foreign Member (1937) of the Royal Society of London, an Hon. Member of the Harvey Society and of Sigma XI. In 1944 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. Otto Meyerhof went through his school life up to the age of 14 without delay, but there is no record that he was then brilliant. When he was 16 he developed some kidney trouble, which caused a long period of rest in bed. This period of seclusion seems to have been responsible for a great mental and artistic development. Reading constantly he matured perceptibly, and in the autumn of 1900 was sent to Egypt on the doctor’s advice for recuperation.

Statement of the ‘Population Summit’ of the World's Scientific Academies, held in New Delhi, India, during 24 to 27 October 1993

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-327 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Population ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Royal Swedish Academy ◽  
The World ◽  
If Current ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Scientific Academies

Representatives of national academies of science from throughout the world met in New Delhi, India, from 24 to 27 October 1993, in a ‘Science Summit’ on World Population. The conference grew out of two earlier meetings—one of the Royal Society of London and the United States National Academy of Sciences, and the other being an international conference organized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Statements published by both groups expressed a sense of urgent concern about the expansion of the world's population and concluded that if current predictions of population growth prove accurate and patterns of human activity on the planet remain unchanged, science and technology may not be able to prevent irreversible degradation of the natural environment and continued poverty for much of the world.

United Kingdom activities

1964 ◽  
Vol 281 (1387) ◽  
pp. 445-450
Keyword(s):  
Financial Support ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
The United States ◽  
Scientific Instruments ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Bilateral Agreement ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
The U.S

The first formal moves which were to lead eventually to satellite Ariel I, the first international ionosphere satellite, took place at the second meeting of cospar, the Committee on Space Research set up by the International Council of Scientific Unions. At this meeting, in the Hague in March 1959, the U.S. delegate, on behalf of the National Academy of Sciences, announced that the United States were prepared to launch satellites containing scientific instruments designed and constructed in other countries. The U.K. delegate to COSPAR, Sir Harrie Massey, on behalf of the Royal Society took the initiative in exploring further this offer; as a result of negotiations with H.M. Government financial support was assured, enabling firm plans to be considered which led eventually to a bilateral agreement between the two Governments, the nominated agencies being respectively the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (N.A.S.A.) and the Office of the Minister for Science (see Reference).

scholarly journals A Conversation with Jacob Nachmias

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jacob Nachmias ◽  
J. Anthony Movshon ◽  
Brian A. Wandell ◽  
David H. Brainard
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Swarthmore College ◽  
Cornell University ◽  
The University ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

We are sad to report that Professor Jacob (Jack) Nachmias passed away on March 2, 2019. Nachmias was born in Athens, Greece, on June 9, 1928. To escape the Nazis, he and his family came to the United States in 1939. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and then an MA from Swarthmore College, where he worked with Hans Wallach and Wolfgang Kohler; his PhD in Psychology was from Harvard University. Nachmias spent the majority of his career as a Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. He made fundamental contributions to our understanding of vision, most notably through the study of eye movements, the development of signal detection theory and forced-choice psychophysical methods, and the psychophysical characterization of spatial-frequency-selective visual channels. Nachmias' work was recognized by his election to the National Academy of Sciences and receipt of the Optical Society's Tillyer Award.

scholarly journals Can small institutes address some problems facing biomedical researchers?

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (21) ◽  
pp. 3267-3269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Sheetz
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Unfunded Mandates ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Community Effort ◽  
Systemic Problems ◽  
The University ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

At a time of historically low National Institutes of Health funding rates and many problems with the conduct of research (unfunded mandates, disgruntled reviewers, and rampant paranoia), there is a concern that biomedical research as a profession is waning in the United States (see ”Rescuing US biomedical research from its systemic flaws” by Alberts and colleagues in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). However, it is wonderful to discover something new and to tackle tough puzzles. If we could focus more of our effort on discussing scientific problems and doing research, then we could be more productive and perhaps happier. One potential solution is to focus efforts on small thematic institutes in the university structure that can provide a stimulating and supportive environment for innovation and exploration. With an open-lab concept, there are economies of scale that can diminish paperwork and costs, while providing greater access to state-of-the-art equipment. Merging multiple disciplines around a common theme can catalyze innovation, and this enables individuals to develop new concepts without giving up the credit they deserve, because it is usually clear who did the work. Small institutes do not solve larger systemic problems but rather enable collective efforts to address the noisome aspects of the system and foster an innovative community effort to address scientific problems.

Mathematics, Peace, and the Cold War

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 556-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brit Shields
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
New York University ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Exchange Program ◽  
Mathematical Sciences ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

This paper seeks to combine studies of émigré scientists, Cold War American science, and cultural histories of mathematical communities by analyzing Richard Courant’s participation in the National Academy of Sciences interacademy exchange program with the Soviet Union in the 1960s. Following his dismissal by the Nazi government from his post as Director of the Göttingen Mathematics Institute in 1933, Courant spent a year at the University of Cambridge, and then immigrated to the United States where he developed the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. Courant’s participation with the National Academy of Sciences interacademy exchange program at the end of his career highlights his ideologies about the mathematics discipline, the international mathematics community, and the political role mathematicians could play in contributing to international peace through scientific diplomacy. Courant’s Cold War scientific identity emerges from his activities as an émigré mathematician, institution builder, and international “ambassador.”

Diabetic Data Warehouses

2011 ◽  
pp. 359-363
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Breault
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Massive Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Massive Data Sets ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Indicator Variables ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences convened in 1995 for a conference on massive data sets. The presentation on health care noted that “massive applies in several dimensions . . . the data themselves are massive, both in terms of the number of observations and also in terms of the variables . . . there are tens of thousands of indicator variables coded for each patient” (Goodall, 1995, paragraph 18). We multiply this by the number of patients in the United States, which is hundreds of millions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document