J. E. Purkyně: HERMANN, Tomáš, ed. a CÍLEK, Václav, ed. Útržky
ze zápisníku zemřelého přírodovědce: O duši Země a romantické vědě [Fragments from the Diary of a Perished
Naturalist: On the Soul of the Earth and Romantic Science]. Praha:
Academia, 2019.
The second
edition of an interesting book devoted to a forgotten treatise by Jan
Evangelista Purkyně (1787-1869). Diary of
Perished Naturalist was originally
published in 1850 and deals with issues like of evolution, including spiritual evolution and
the questions if the Earth has some sort of a soul and what are its qualities
and manifestations. It tries to solve the similar problems as some of the important
streams of idealistic „Naturphilosophie“. According to the editors, this
treatise did not get much attention, because it was published anonymously and
outside the Habsburg monarchy. The current edition should rehabilitate its
status. Authors of original essays put Purkyně's treatise in to the historical
context of the development of evolutionary thinking, connect it with important
period works and show parallels to some current biological concepts.
ŠTRBÁŇOVÁ, Soňa. Bohuslav Raýman: vědec, vlastenec a Evropan [Bohuslav Raýman: Scientist, Patriot, Europian]. Praha:
Národohospodářský ústav Josefa Hlávky, 2019.
Bohuslav
Raýman (1852-1910) was a Czech chemist, popular science writer and a foremost
organizer of the linguistically Czech science at the turn of the 19th century.
The monograph deals with both professional and personal aspects of his
personality. Raýman studied with the leading European chemists F. A. Kekulé,
Ch. A. Wurtz and Ch. Friedel in Bonn and Paris. In Prague he
became dozent at the Czech Technical University (1878), then
professor of organic chemistry at the Czech University (1890, 1897). His
scientific research and university lectures encompassed organic chemistry,
biochemistry and physical chemistry. As organizer of science he held leading
positions in the Society of Czech Chemists, the Czech Academy of Sciences and
Arts and other institutions and edited several professional and popular
journals. His contacts included not only top notch Czech scientists and
artists, but also scholars from several European countries and India. Among his
important popularizing activities belong restoration of the Živa journal
and numerous articles in Otto’s Encyclopaedia. The monograph presents
not only new findings on Raýman’s life and work but also reflects his efforts
to link up science and culture in the Czech society, eradicate nationalism and
provinciality from the Czech science and integrate Czech science and culture
into international scientific currents.
KRAUS, Ivo et al. Věda v českých zemích. Dějiny fyziky, geografie, geologie, chemie a
matematiky [Science in Czech lands,
History of Physics, Geography, Geology, Chemistry and Mathematics]. Praha:
ČVUT, 2019.
The book
summarizes the development of five disciplines from the 14th to the
21st century. Important physicists, geographers, geologists and
chemists from Czech lands are introduced, including those, who worked abroad.
Each chapter is written chronologically and contains rich illustrative material.
Biografický slovník
českých zemí. Sešit 22 (Han–Hau) [Biographical Dictionary of the Czech Lands. Vol. 22 (Han-Hau)].
Praha: Historický ústav – Academia, 2019.
The Twenty-second
volume (containing names Han-Hau) of a dictionary of biographical items of the
leading, illustrious, or just remarkable men and women related to the Bohemian,
Czech and Czechoslovak development throughout the history. An online version of
the dictionary is accessible at http://biography.hiu.cas.cz/Personal/index.php/Hlavní_strana.
Both versions are edited by the Institute of History of the Czech
Academy of Sciences. It is a useful tool for everyone looking for the basic
biographical data of particular Czech scientists and other important figures of
the social and cultural life.
SOUKUP, Martin. Antropologie. Teorie, koncepty
a osobnosti [Anthropology. Theories, Concepts and
Personalities]. Červený
Kostelec: Pavel Mervart, 2019.
The book
offers an explanation of the changes in the anthropological thinking from from
its birth in the colonial period to postmodern discussions on the nature of
field research and the validity of anthropological knowledge, that is from the
19th century to the present.. Written in a lively style, it is devoted to important schools, directions and paradigms
of social and cultural anthropology. The author expresses himself in the text
through personal notes written as his alter ego, a woman anthropologist, who
lived in the 20th century and met many classics of the field. Through letters
to important anthropologists, she becomes a reader's guide through the history
of anthropological thought. The book is intended for anthropologists,
ethnologists, culturologists, sociologists and all others interested in
anthropology as the science of man, society and culture.
HADRAVOVÁ, Alena, HADRAVA, Petr. Sféra Iohanna de Sacrobosco – středověká
učebnice základů astronomie [The
Sphere of Johannes de Sacrobosco – the Medieval Textbook of elementary
Astronomy]. Praha: Akropolis, 2019.
The Latin
treatise Tractatus de spera mundi (‘Treatise on the Sphere of
the World’) was written by the early 13th-century English astronomer Johannes
de Sacrobosco at the University of Paris where he spent his entire professional
career. The treatise went on to become the most popular medieval textbook on
the elements of astronomy and geocentric cosmology and was read and studied as
such until the 17th century. The publication contains an edition of the Latin
original of Sacrobosco’s Tractatus and an annotated
translation into Czech together with a commentary to the text written by
Wenceslaus Faber de Budweis (also Vaclav Faber z Budějovic, c. 1455/1460–1518)
towards the end of the 15th century, as well the introduction of Philipp
Melanchthon, that was included into the Wittenberg edition of Tractatus
in 1531.
KOVÁČ, Ladislav et al. Listy o biologii:
korespondence 1975-1990 a další texty [Letters
on Biology: Correspondence 1975-1900 and other Texts]. Praha: Malvern,
2019.
The book
provides insight into lives of two
extraordinary public intellectuals and personalities of the Czech and Slovak biology
and philosophy. Zdeněk Neubauer (1942-2016) and Ladislav Kováč (*1932) who
began their carriers as outstanding biologists but during the normalization
period (after 1968) were forced to survive in semi-official structures, without
the possibility to work and teach. However, they did not give up, and in 1990
returned with full force back to the public and academic life. The core of this
book consist of letters Neubauer and Kováč exchanged in 1975-1990. The letters
reflect their spiritual struggles, doubts and disputes. The letters are
supplemented by a selection of articles written after 1990. To enable a better
understanding of the historical context,
editors included memories, underground articles, biographies and
literary references.
FASORA, Lukáš, HANUŠ,
Jiří. Mýty a tradice středoevropské univerzitní kultury [Cultural
Myths and Traditions of Central European Universities]. Brno:
Masarykova univerzita, 2019.
The aim of this historical investigation into
university culture is to show continuities and discontinuities in the
development of Central European universities, from their ecclesiastical origins
in the Middle Ages to the challenges they face in the competitive world of
advanced education today. Through the study of the so-called ‘myths’, the
authors have sought to uncover those issues that have historically been
important to universities in the region, particularly those in the Czech lands.
As distinguished historians, however, the authors go beyond this, seeking to
address the following questions: What are these ‘continuities’ and
‘discontinuities’? What can we learn from the terms used to describe university
education and research? How have these changed from the Middle Ages, through
the nineteenth century to today? During the modern age and throughout the
twentieth century, what are the drivers that have so entirely transformed the
purpose and mission of universities themselves and of their faculties; and how
have public expectations of universities changed? What effects have the
evolution of mass culture at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, and then the rise of mass university education in the second half of
the twentieth century, had on universities’ social purpose? How have the lives
of the participants in these events – the professors, readers, lecturers and
other teaching staff, and, finally, the students – been affected by the
changes? Have the structures of universities remained resistant to influence
from the economy and politics? Are universities in crisis? Are their ideals and
needs – their struggles for independence and autonomy, their efforts to be
competitive, their search for meaningful performance criteria and their
internal instability – in fact an expression of a deep crisis in which the
universities find themselves today? Isn’t it the case that all we are left with
today are the ‘myths’? These may be helpful to portray the university
environment of yesteryear, but where are the equivalent terms we can employ to
describe universities today?
If you know about a online depository/library/archive, write to hps.cesee@gmail.com.