Travel medicine in Basel - 450 years before CISTM18.

Concern for travellers' wellbeing and safety is as old as humankind. Historic documents offer insights into how a safe journey was prepared or travel ailments treated based on the prevailing knowledge of body and (dys)function. In 1561, Guilhelmo Gratarolo published a comprehensive book on what we call today 'travel medicine'. Many then problems are still today's travel malaises. How they were dealt with 450 years ago is uncovered in his fascinating publication.

Honores a Sir Ernest Shackleton en Sanidad Militar / Honors to Sir Ernest Shackleton in Military Health / Honras a Sir Ernest Shackleton em Saúde Militar

Ernest Shackleton ha sido en la historia, un personaje que dejó huella como ejemplo de resiliencia y liderazgo. En 1914 realizó como jefe de expedición su segundo viaje antártico, frustrado por el hundimiento de su buque insignia. La operación de rescate del grueso de la tripulación varada en el continente más meridional lo llevó a recalar en Montevideo. Desde este puerto partió el buque Instituto de Pesca N°1, con tripulación de Uruguay y Shackleton incluido, no logrando completar el salvamento. De esta acción nació el aprecio hacia la persona del explorador por parte del gobierno de la República. En su postrer travesía, ya fallecido llegó a las Islas Georgia del Sur y a su cuerpo se le realizó un proceso de conservación para ser traído a nuestro país y continuar viaje al puerto de origen en Inglaterra. Es en esa circunstancia que el gobierno del doctor Baltasar Brum solicitó a la Comisión Permanente del Parlamento, se le rindieran honores fúnebres de Ministro de Estado. El embalsamado del cuerpo fue realizado el 30 de enero de 1922, por parte de personal médico y técnico del Hospital Militar, así como los honores que le rindieron por el Servicio de Sanidad del Ejército y la Armada.

Ernest Shackleton has been in history, a character who left his mark as an example of resilience and leadership. In 1914, as expedition leader, he made his second Antarctic voyage, frustrated by the sinking of his flagship. The operation to rescue the bulk of the crew stranded on the southernmost continent led him to Montevideo. The Instituto de Pesca N°1, with Uruguayan crew and Shackleton included, departed from this port, but was unable to complete the rescue. From this action was born the appreciation of the explorer by the government of the Republic. In his last voyage, when he died, he reached the South Georgia Islands and his body underwent a preservation process to be brought to our country and continue his voyage to the port of origin in England. It is in this circumstance that the government of Dr. Baltasar Brum requested the Permanent Commission of the Parliament to pay him the funeral honors of a Minister of State. The embalming of the body was carried out on January 30, 1922, by medical and technical personnel of the Military Hospital, as well as the honors rendered by the Army and Navy Health Service.

Ernest Shackleton deixou sua marca na história como um exemplo de resiliência e liderança. Em 1914, ele fez sua segunda viagem à Antártica como líder da expedição, frustrado pelo naufrágio de seu navio principal. A operação para resgatar a maior parte da tripulação encalhada no continente mais ao sul o levou a Montevidéu. O Instituto de Pesca N°1, com tripulação do Uruguai e Shackleton incluído, partiu desse porto, mas não conseguiu concluir o resgate. Essa ação deu origem ao reconhecimento do explorador pelo governo da República. Em sua última viagem, quando morreu, chegou às Ilhas Geórgia do Sul e seu corpo foi preservado para que pudesse ser trazido ao nosso país e continuar sua viagem até o porto de origem na Inglaterra. Foi nessa circunstância que o governo do Dr. Baltasar Brum solicitou ao Comitê Permanente do Parlamento que lhe prestasse as honras fúnebres de um Ministro de Estado. O embalsamamento do corpo foi realizado em 30 de janeiro de 1922, pela equipe médica e técnica do Hospital Militar, bem como as honras prestadas a ele pelo Serviço de Saúde do Exército e da Marinha.

El viaje del uranio español en los años sesenta: significados y materialidades de un objeto híbrido / The journey of Spanish uranium in the sixties meanings and materialities of a hybrid object

En 1966, 137 toneladas de mineral de uranio español llegaron al puerto de Nueva Orleans procedentes del puerto de Cádiz. En este artículo quiero utilizar este viaje que conectó agentes políticos, industriales y empresariales con capacidades y experiencias técnicas, para explorar el uranio como un objeto híbrido —físico, técnico y diplomático—. El uranio conectó los intereses de las autoridades franquistas con los de los científicos y empresarios de la industria eléctrica. Sirvió al régimen de Franco para formar investigadores en nuevos métodos y prácticas experimentales y también para popularizar las políticas e ideologías atómicas de Estados Unidos. Al tiempo que alimentó los reactores nucleares, el uranio generó nuevos espacios disciplinares, modificó paisajes y diseñó nuevas cartografías industriales y administrativas. Además de ser una pieza clave en la política exterior del régimen franquista —le sirvió al régimen español para alinearse con el pensamiento occidental imperante sobre los usos civiles de la energía nuclear—, internamente sirvió para abandonar los discursos autárquicos y reforzar el poder de los tecnócratas, que utilizaron la energía atómica para transformar la producción eléctrica española. Este viaje cambió la materialidad del mineral de uranio, su física y su química, y también sus significados. (AU)

In 1966, 137 tons of Spanish uranium ore arrived at the port of New Orleans from the port of Cádiz. In this paper, I want to use this trip, which involved political, industrial, and business agents as well as technical capabilities, to explore the uranium as a hybrid object - physical, technical and diplomatic. This material connected the interests of the Franco authorities, scientists, and businessmen from the electrical industry. It served the Franco regime in training researchers, in buying and importing technologies, methods and experimental practices, and in introducing ways to popularize atomic policies and ideologies from the United States. Uranium was a fuel that not only powered nuclear reactor but also fed new disciplinary spaces, modified landscapes, and sketched new industrial and administrative cartographies. Besides being a key piece of the Franco regime’s foreign policy —it was useful to the Spanish regime to align itself with prevailing Western thought on the civil uses of nuclear energy— it served internally to effectively abandon autarchic discourses and strengthen the power of the technocrats, who used atomic energy to transform Spanish electrical production. The materiality of uranium ore changed with travel and also its meanings. (AU)

Contested Tracks to Modernity: Negotiating Narratives at Taiwan's Railway Department Park.

This essay looks at the exhibitions of Taipei's Railway Department Park, a museum exhibiting Taiwan's "railway culture." It explores how the history of the island's railway system and the Railway Department as the symbol of modernity have been intricately linked to contested interpretations of Taiwan's history, which is shaped by wars, Japanese imperialism, and Chinese nationalism from the nineteenth century to the present day. It also reviews how the contents of the exhibitions may appeal to the general public, invoking shared memories of railway travel and creating a sense of community in a time when bickering over history has strained relationships among the Taiwanese people.

"The barbarous glebes of Central Brazil:" the hinterlands of Mato Grosso and Goiás in the travel narratives of Hermano Ribeiro da Silva, 1935-1936. / "As glebas bárbaras do Brasil Central": os sertões de Mato Grosso e Goiás nas narrativas de viagem de Hermano Ribeiro da Silva, 1935-1936.

The article analyzes the travel narratives to the hinterlands of the states of Mato Grosso and Goiás published in 1935 and 1936 by the São Paulo-based explorer Hermano Ribeiro da Silva, which proved a great publishing success and had a considerable impact on lettered society in Brazil. The analysis focuses on his ideas about the relationship between the environment in Central Brazil and the man who inhabited it, the potential economic exploitation of the region, and the role of the State in orchestrating initiatives capable of promoting its effective incorporation into the nationhood. It also seeks to understand how he grounded his discourse on generic scientific concepts and schemas endowed with rhetorical and argumentative power.

O artigo analisa as narrativas de viagem ao interior de Mato Grosso e Goiás publicadas em 1935 e 1936 pelo explorador paulista Hermano Ribeiro da Silva, que obtiveram considerável sucesso editorial e impacto no meio letrado brasileiro. Concentramo-nos em suas ideias sobre a relação entre o ambiente do Brasil Central e o homem sertanejo, sobre as potencialidades de exploração econômica da região e sobre o papel do Estado na condução de iniciativas capazes de promover sua incorporação efetiva à nacionalidade. Buscamos também compreender a fundamentação de seu discurso em conceitos e esquemas científicos genéricos dotados de poder retórico e argumentativo.

Mummified baboons reveal the far reach of early Egyptian mariners.

The Red Sea was witness to important events during human history, including the first long steps in a trade network (the spice route) that would drive maritime technology and shape geopolitical fortunes for thousands of years. Punt was a pivotal early node in the rise of this enterprise, serving as an important emporium for luxury goods, including sacred baboons (Papio hamadryas), but its location is disputed. Here, we use geospatial variation in the oxygen and strontium isotope ratios of 155 baboons from 77 locations to estimate the geoprovenance of mummified baboons recovered from ancient Egyptian temples and tombs. Five Ptolemaic specimens of P. anubis (404-40 BC) showed evidence of long-term residency in Egypt prior to mummification, consistent with a captive breeding program. Two New Kingdom specimens of P. hamadryas were sourced to a region that encompasses much of present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti, and portions of Somalia and Yemen. This result is a testament to the tremendous reach of Egyptian seafaring during the 2nd millennium BC. It also corroborates the balance of scholarly conjecture on the location of Punt.

Strontium is a chemical element that can act as a geographic fingerprint: its composition differs between locations, and as it enters the food chain, it can help to retrace the life history of extant or past animals. In particular, strontium in teeth ­ which stop to develop early ­ can reveal where an individual was born; strontium in bone and hair, on the other hand, can show where it lived just before death. Together, these analyses may hold the key to archaeological mysteries, such as the location of a long-lost kingdom revered by ancient Egyptians. For hundreds of years, the Land of Punt was one of Egypt's strongest trading partners, and a place from which to import premium incense and prized monkeys. Travellers could reach Punt by venturing south and east of Egypt, suggesting that the kingdom occupied the southern Red Sea region. Yet its exact location is still highly debated. To investigate, Dominy et al. examined the mummies of baboons present in ancient Egyptian tombs, and compared the strontium compositions of the bones, hair and teeth of these remains with the ones found in baboons living in various regions across Africa. This shed a light on the origins of the ancient baboons: while some were probably raised in captivity in Egypt, others were born in modern Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Yemen ­ areas already highlighted as potential locations for the Land of Punt. The work by Dominy et al. helps to better understand the ancient trade routes that shaped geopolitical fortunes for millennia. It also highlights the need for further archaeological research in Eritrea and Somalia, two areas which are currently understudied.

"As glebas bárbaras do Brasil Central": os sertões de Mato Grosso e Goiás nas narrativas de viagem de Hermano Ribeiro da Silva, 1935-1936 / "The barbarous glebes of Central Brazil: " the hinterlands of Mato Grosso and Goiás in the travel narratives of Hermano Ribeiro da Silva, 1935-1936

Resumo O artigo analisa as narrativas de viagem ao interior de Mato Grosso e Goiás publicadas em 1935 e 1936 pelo explorador paulista Hermano Ribeiro da Silva, que obtiveram considerável sucesso editorial e impacto no meio letrado brasileiro. Concentramo-nos em suas ideias sobre a relação entre o ambiente do Brasil Central e o homem sertanejo, sobre as potencialidades de exploração econômica da região e sobre o papel do Estado na condução de iniciativas capazes de promover sua incorporação efetiva à nacionalidade. Buscamos também compreender a fundamentação de seu discurso em conceitos e esquemas científicos genéricos dotados de poder retórico e argumentativo.

Abstract The article analyzes the travel narratives to the hinterlands of the states of Mato Grosso and Goiás published in 1935 and 1936 by the São Paulo-based explorer Hermano Ribeiro da Silva, which proved a great publishing success and had a considerable impact on lettered society in Brazil. The analysis focuses on his ideas about the relationship between the environment in Central Brazil and the man who inhabited it, the potential economic exploitation of the region, and the role of the State in orchestrating initiatives capable of promoting its effective incorporation into the nationhood. It also seeks to understand how he grounded his discourse on generic scientific concepts and schemas endowed with rhetorical and argumentative power.

An Analysis of the United States and United Kingdom Smallpox Epidemics (1901-5) - The Special Relationship that Tested Public Health Strategies for Disease Control.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the northern port of Liverpool had become the second largest in the United Kingdom. Fast transatlantic steamers to Boston and other American ports exploited this route, increasing the risk of maritime disease epidemics. The 1901-3 epidemic in Liverpool was the last serious smallpox outbreak in Liverpool and was probably seeded from these maritime contacts, which introduced a milder form of the disease that was more difficult to trace because of its long incubation period and occurrence of undiagnosed cases. The characteristics of these epidemics in Boston and Liverpool are described and compared with outbreaks in New York, Glasgow and London between 1900 and 1903. Public health control strategies, notably medical inspection, quarantine and vaccination, differed between the two countries and in both settings were inconsistently applied, often for commercial reasons or due to public unpopularity. As a result, smaller smallpox epidemics spread out from Liverpool until 1905. This paper analyses factors that contributed to this last serious epidemic using the historical epidemiological data available at that time. Though imperfect, these early public health strategies paved the way for better prevention of imported maritime diseases.

"That crosscountry 1969 vw squareback and holiday inn affair": lesbian mobility.

This article argues that lesbian mobility contributed to the development of lesbian identity in North America in the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing primarily on published accounts, it explores the ways in which women achieved and sustained their lesbian identity in part through their access to what cultural geographers term a transportation assemblage or constellation of mobility. This was constituted through the symbolic meaning of mobility for predominantly white women, the existence of new highway networks and Volkswagen vehicles, which were popularized through countercultural branding, and lesbians' embodied experiences of fear and desire.

Las "Cartas desde Egipto 1849-1850" de Florence Nighingale, también es un viaje espiritual / Florence Nightingale's "Letters from Egypt 1849-1850", a spiritual journey as well

En este artículo se estudia Cartas desde Egipto 1849-1850 de Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). Una colección de cartas escritas por la enfermera británica con la intención de dar noticias a su familia de su viaje a Egipto; cartas que ofrecen datos históricos, culturales, antropológicos, opiniones personales a veces controvertidas y polémicas, y también comentarios sobre la crisis espiritual por la que pasaba en esos momentos de su vida. Una obra importante para entender las decisiones que tomó sobre su futuro en la década de los cincuenta del siglo XIX

In this article we have studied "Letters from Egypt 1849-1850" by Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). A collection of letters written by the British nurse with the intention of giving her family news about her trip to Egypt; letters that offer historical, cultural, anthropological data, personal opinions sometimes controversial and polemic, and also comments on the spiritual crisis that she was going through at those moments in her life. An important work to understand the decisions she took in the 1850s about her future

Museus, coleccionismo e viagens científicas em Portugal de finais de Setecentos / Museums, collecting and scientific voyages in late 18th Century Portugal

Este artigo centra-se no vasto e complexo processo científico e institucional ligado à recolha de artefactos e à formação de colecções científico-naturais, etnológicas e antropológicas, provenientes de vários espaços coloniais extra-europeus em Portugal durante a segunda metade do século XVIII. Faz ainda referência às instituições que albergaram estes materiais. Neste período em que a ciência era, por definição, útil e devia servir ao interesse público na prossecução do bem-estar, do progresso e da felicidade dos povos, os estudos produzidos tiveram como objectivo contribuir para um levantamento científico com pretensões enciclopedistas, destinado a produzir um conhecimento minucioso dos espaços imperiais através da identificação, recolecção e estudo das produções naturais e das "características físicas e morais" dos indígenas. A curiosidade científica que caracterizou os grupos sociais envolvidos neste processo permitiu a corporização dum conjunto de práticas que era pensado em Lisboa e implementado pelos vassalos da coroa em todo o império. Deste conjunto de práticas, quero destacar as viagens filosóficas, explorações científicas vocacionadas para a descrição física e económica dos territórios e para a inventariação dos recursos naturais, consideradas como instrumento de modernização política e administrativa do império numa altura em que a ciência e a técnica eram vistas como ferramentas imprescindíveis ao desenvolvimento do Estado Moderno

This article focuses on the vast and complex scientific and institutional process related to the collection of artefacts and the formation of scientific-natural, ethnological and anthropological collections from various extra-European colonial spaces in Portugal during the second half of the eighteenth century. It also addresses the institutions that housed these materials. In a period when science was, by definition, useful and should serve the public interest in the pursuit of welfare, progress and the happiness of peoples, scientific studies had the objective of contributing to a scientific survey with encyclopaedic pretensions of the imperial spaces through the identification, collection and study of the natural productions and the "physical and moral characteristics" of the natives. The scientific curiosity that characterized the social groups involved in this process allowed the embodiment of a set of practices that was thought in Lisbon and implemented by Portuguese subjects throughout the empire. From this set of practices, I would like to highlight the philosophical voyages, scientific explorations aimed at the physical and economic description of the territories and the inventory of natural resources, considered as an instrument of political and administrative modernization of the empire at a time when science and technology were considered as essential tools for the development of the Modern State

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[Pediatrics and travel culture: Spanish travel award-holders and the appropriation of laboratories on the periphery, 1907-1939]. / Pediatría y cultura de viaje: los pensionados españoles y la apropiación del laboratorio en la periferia, 1907-1939.

Starting from the hypothesis that laboratories played an important role in pediatrics becoming an autonomous discipline, this article studies the influence of scientific travel on the appropriation of new methodologies by Spanish pediatricians and child-care experts in the first third of the twentieth century. To do so, it analyzes the travel awards granted by the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas. It describes the scientific geography created by the program and takes an in-depth look at the role of mentors - especially Gustavo Pittaluga (1876-1956) - in this process. In addition to a prosopographical study of the group, it presents three cases that demonstrate the importance of the program in bringing pediatrics into contact with bacteriology, pathological anatomy and biochemistry.

Partiendo de la hipótesis de que el laboratorio jugó un papel importante en la autonomía disciplinar de la pediatría, este artículo estudia la influencia del viaje científico en la apropiación de nuevas metodologías por parte de los pediatras y puericultores españoles del primer tercio del siglo XX. Para ello, se analizan las pensiones concedidas a tal efecto por la Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas. Se describe la geografía científica creada por el programa y se profundiza en el papel de los mentores ­ especialmente de Gustavo Pittaluga (1876-1956) ­ en este proceso. Además de un estudio prosopográfico del grupo, se presentan tres casos que demuestran la importancia del programa en el encuentro de la pediatría con la bacteriología, la anatomía patológica y la bioquímica.

Pediatría y cultura de viaje: los pensionados españoles y la apropiación del laboratorio en la periferia, 1907-1939 / Pediatrics and travel culture: Spanish travel award-holders and the appropriation of laboratories on the periphery, 1907-1939

Resumen Partiendo de la hipótesis de que el laboratorio jugó un papel importante en la autonomía disciplinar de la pediatría, este artículo estudia la influencia del viaje científico en la apropiación de nuevas metodologías por parte de los pediatras y puericultores españoles del primer tercio del siglo XX. Para ello, se analizan las pensiones concedidas a tal efecto por la Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas. Se describe la geografía científica creada por el programa y se profundiza en el papel de los mentores - especialmente de Gustavo Pittaluga (1876-1956) - en este proceso. Además de un estudio prosopográfico del grupo, se presentan tres casos que demuestran la importancia del programa en el encuentro de la pediatría con la bacteriología, la anatomía patológica y la bioquímica.

Abstract Starting from the hypothesis that laboratories played an important role in pediatrics becoming an autonomous discipline, this article studies the influence of scientific travel on the appropriation of new methodologies by Spanish pediatricians and child-care experts in the first third of the twentieth century. To do so, it analyzes the travel awards granted by the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas. It describes the scientific geography created by the program and takes an in-depth look at the role of mentors - especially Gustavo Pittaluga (1876-1956) - in this process. In addition to a prosopographical study of the group, it presents three cases that demonstrate the importance of the program in bringing pediatrics into contact with bacteriology, pathological anatomy and biochemistry.

Spatial constraints on the diffusion of religious innovations: The case of early Christianity in the Roman Empire.

Christianity emerged as a small and marginal movement in the first century Palestine and throughout the following three centuries it became highly visible in the whole Mediterranean. Little is known about the mechanisms of spreading innovative ideas in past societies. Here we investigate how well the spread of Christianity can be explained as a diffusive process constrained by physical travel in the Roman Empire. First, we combine a previously established model of the transportation network with city population estimates and evaluate to which extent the spatio-temporal pattern of the spread of Christianity can be explained by static factors. Second, we apply a network-theoretical approach to analyze the spreading process utilizing effective distance. We show that the spread of Christianity in the first two centuries closely follows a gravity-guided diffusion, and is substantially accelerated in the third century. Using the effective distance measure, we are able to suggest the probable path of the spread. Our work demonstrates how the spatio-temporal patterns we observe in the data can be explained using only spatial constraints and urbanization structure of the empire. Our findings also provide a methodological framework to be reused for studying other cultural spreading phenomena.

"Spanish Flu": When Infectious Disease Names Blur Origins and Stigmatize Those Infected.

Despite not originating in Spain, the 1918 influenza pandemic is commonly known as the "Spanish flu"-a name that reflects a tendency in public health history to associate new infectious diseases with foreign nationals and foreign countries. Intentional or not, an effect of this naming convention is to communicate a causal relationship between foreign populations and the spread of infectious disease, potentially promoting irrational fear and stigma. I address two relevant issues to help contextualize these naming practices. First is whether, in an age of global hyperinterconnectedness, fear of the other is truly irrational or has a rational basis. The empirical literature assessing whether restricting global airline travel can mitigate the global spread of modern epidemics suggests that the role of travel may be overemphasized. Second is the persistence of xenophobic responses to infectious disease in the face of contrary evidence. To help explain this, I turn to the health communication literature. Scholars argue that promoting an association between foreigners and a particular epidemic can be a rhetorical strategy for either promoting fear or, alternatively, imparting a sense of safety to the public.