DOCSLIB.ORG

Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity ORIGINS OF GENIUS This page intentionally left blank ~ ORIGINS OF GENIUS ~ Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity Dean Keith Simonton New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1999 Oxford University Press Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sao Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1999 by Oxford University Press Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 http://www.oup-usa.org Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Simonton, Dean Keith. Origins of genius: Darwinian perspectives on creativity/ Dean Keith Simonton. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-512879-6 i. Genius. 2. Creative ability. 3. Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882. I. Title. BF412.S58 1999 153.9'8 — dc2i 98-45044 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To all Darwinists This page intentionally left blank Contents ~ Preface IX 1. GENIUS AND DARWIN The Surprising Connections i 2. COGNITION How Does the Brain Create? 25 3. VARIATION Is Genius Brilliant—or Mad? 75 4. DEVELOPMENT Are Geniuses Born—or Made? 109 5. PRODUCTS By What Works Shall We Know Them? 145 6. GROUPS The Right Place and the Right Time? 199 /. DARWINIAN GENIUS The Future of an Idea 243 Notes 249 References 261 Index 297 This page intentionally left blank Preface ~ For nearly a quarter of a century, I have been conducting scientific inquiries into the nature and origins of creative genius. The subjects of these investigations have included thousands of eminent figures from most of the world's civilizations and key domains of creative activity: scientists and artists, philosophers and composers, poets and psychologists. During the course of my research, I have come to admire many outstanding exem- plars of creativity. From European civilization, for instance, come such per- sonal idols as Beethoven, Shakespeare, and Leonardo da Vinci. Nonetheless, because I am a behavioral scientist, my private list of heroes tends to be heavily weighted toward those who have made signal contributions to sci- entific knowledge. At the top of the roster are such notables as Galileo, Pas- cal, Newton, Faraday, Pasteur, and Einstein. But my all-time favorite is Charles Darwin. There are probably three main reasons for this choice. First, Darwin had an unusually attractive and approachable personality, at least as revealed in his autobiography and correspondence. He had a rare combination of frankness, modesty, and persuasive self-confidence. Seri- ously dedicated to the hard work of science, Darwin also could enjoy the everyday world of family and community. He was arguably the most human of all scientific luminaries. He is certainly more accessible than Newton. Second, all of his landmark contributions are accessible to educated lay readers—including me. One does not need special training, mathematical or otherwise, to read the Origin of Species, for example. Indeed, I can think of no scientific masterpiece that can boast such universal appeal. Newton's Principia, in contrast, is very tough going, even for physicists (who are now unschooled in its archaic mathematics). At the same time, Darwin did not compromise his scientific integrity or effectiveness in producing such a popular work. It is rich in logic and fact—features that render the work all the more thought provoking and convincing. Third, and probably most important, no scientist, living or deceased, has more influenced my own thinking than has Charles Darwin. I may admire Einstein or Newton or Galileo, but their epoch-making ideas belong to someone else's discipline. In comparison, Darwin's powerful contributions have left their indelible imprints throughout the biological and behavioral sciences, psychology not excluded. Great psychologists as diverse as William James, Sigmund Freud, and B. F. Skinner have all acknowledged Darwin's penetrating influence. In fact, among the first behavioral scientists to feel the impact of Darwin's ideas was Francis Galton, whose 1869 Hereditary Genius x ~ Origins of Genius ~ is considered one of the landmarks in the scientific study of creative genius. Which brings me to my purpose in writing this book: Not only do I admire Darwin as a creative genius par excellence, but in addition I believe that Darwin provided the secure foundations for a comprehensive theory of extraordinary creativity. For more than a decade now, I have been grappling with whether the diverse features of creative phenomena are best under- stood from a Darwinian perspective. This potential application is by no means new with me. I have many predecessors going as far back as Galton and James. Nevertheless, I believe the time has come to consolidate all of the diverse efforts at constructing a Darwinian theory of creative genius. Besides advancing our understanding of creativity, such a consolidation would also serve as a kind of homage to that scientist who most profoundly shaped my own thinking. I would like to thank Joan Bossert and Philip Laughlin, my editors at Oxford, whose initial reactions to an early draft of this book were most encouraging. I am particularly grateful to Philip for his having obtained a balanced set of external reviewers. Two of these evaluators provided detailed critiques along with a willingness to be identified: Colin Martin- dale and Howard Gardner. In addition, Frank Sulloway provided numer- ous, detailed, and useful comments on what I had—quite mistakenly!— thought to be the final draft. Although none of these readers can be said to be sympathetic with everything in the final product, I hope that all will appreciate my attempts to accommodate their most significant criticisms. The book certainly has much fewer faults as a result of their input. Charles Darwin did all of his research at home. He was therefore fortu- nate to have a family willing to provide him with that special environment he needed to read and write, contemplate and experiment. Because I also do virtually all of my own research at home, I must feel myself equally blessed. Specifically, I must explicitly thank my wife, Melody, and my daughter, Sabrina. Melody's role was especially crucial, and in all aspects of my life and work. I can think of no better way of honoring her contribution than to quote what Darwin said of his own wife: She has been my greatest blessing, and I can declare in my whole life I have never heard her utter one word which I had rather have been unsaid. She has never failed in the kindest sympathy towards me, and has borne with the utmost patience my frequent complaints.... I do not believe she has ever missed an opportunity of doing a kind action to anyone near her. I marvel at my good fortune that she, so infinitely my superior in every single moral quality, consented to be my wife. She has been my wise adviser and cheerful comforter throughout life, which without her would have been ... a miserable one.... She has earned the love and admiration of every soul near her. ORIGINS OF GENIUS This page intentionally left blank 1 GENIUS AND DARWIN The Surprising Connections C/ivilizations are often defined by the lives and works of their creative geniuses. The glory that was ancient Greece was built on the achievements of Homer, Pythagoras, Herodotus, Sophocles, Plato, Hip- pocrates, Phidias, and hundreds of other great creators. Modern European civilization was illuminated by the likes of Galileo, Descartes, Tolstoy, Rem- brandt, and Mozart. The same story may be told of the world's other civi- lizations. The histories of Persia, India, China, and other high cultures are to a very large extent chronologically arranged biographies of notable creative minds. As Thomas Carlyle proclaimed in his famous 1841 essay On Heroes, "Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here." Among those he discussed at length as illustrations were Dante and Shakespeare, two of the greatest writers in any language. So obvious is the debt civilizations owe these exceptional individuals that the appearance of such geniuses is often considered an indication of the cre- ative health of a civilized culture. For example, this linking is evident in the 1944 Configurations of Culture Growth by Alfred Kroeber, an eminent cul- tural anthropologist. Wishing to gauge the emergence, growth, and stagna- tion of civilizations throughout the world, Kroeber could conceive of no better method than to assess the appearance of famous creators across a cul- ture's history. A civilization enjoyed a golden age when it overflowed with ~i 2 ~ Origins of Genius ~ first-rate creative minds, experienced a silver age when the creative activity descended to a less notable level, and suffered a dark age when creators became few and far between. Indeed, this association goes beyond the abstract operational definitions of behavioral scientists. What nation does not take pride when one of its writers or scientists is awarded the Nobel Prize? Yet who are these creative luminaries? Where do they come from? When do they appear? What are they like? Can any one of us become a creative genius? Or is high-caliber creativity limited to the one in a million? These questions are important. In fact, they provide the impetus behind my writing this book.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Charles Darwin: a Companion
    CHARLES DARWIN: A COMPANION Charles Darwin aged 59. Reproduction of a photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, original 13 x 10 inches, taken at Dumbola Lodge, Freshwater, Isle of Wight in July 1869. The original print is signed and authenticated by Mrs Cameron and also signed by Darwin. It bears Colnaghi's blind embossed registration. [page 3] CHARLES DARWIN A Companion by R. B. FREEMAN Department of Zoology University College London DAWSON [page 4] First published in 1978 © R. B. Freeman 1978 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher: Wm Dawson & Sons Ltd, Cannon House Folkestone, Kent, England Archon Books, The Shoe String Press, Inc 995 Sherman Avenue, Hamden, Connecticut 06514 USA British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Freeman, Richard Broke. Charles Darwin. 1. Darwin, Charles – Dictionaries, indexes, etc. 575′. 0092′4 QH31. D2 ISBN 0–7129–0901–X Archon ISBN 0–208–01739–9 LC 78–40928 Filmset in 11/12 pt Bembo Printed and bound in Great Britain by W & J Mackay Limited, Chatham [page 5] CONTENTS List of Illustrations 6 Introduction 7 Acknowledgements 10 Abbreviations 11 Text 17–309 [page 6] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Charles Darwin aged 59 Frontispiece From a photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron Skeleton Pedigree of Charles Robert Darwin 66 Pedigree to show Charles Robert Darwin's Relationship to his Wife Emma 67 Wedgwood Pedigree of Robert Darwin's Children and Grandchildren 68 Arms and Crest of Robert Waring Darwin 69 Research Notes on Insectivorous Plants 1860 90 Charles Darwin's Full Signature 91 [page 7] INTRODUCTION THIS Companion is about Charles Darwin the man: it is not about evolution by natural selection, nor is it about any other of his theoretical or experimental work.
    [Show full text]
  • THE EPONYMOUS OFFICIALS of GREEK CITIES: I Aus: Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik 83 (1990) 249–288
    ROBERT K. SHERK THE EPONYMOUS OFFICIALS OF GREEK CITIES: I aus: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 83 (1990) 249–288 © Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn 249 The Eponymous Officials of Greek Cities: I (A) Introduction The eponymous official or magistrate after whom the year was named in Greek cities or as- sociations is well known to all epigraphists under various titles: archon, prytanis, stephanepho- ros, priest, etc. Some details about them have appeared in many articles and in scattered pas- sages of scholarly books. However, not since the publication of Clemens Gnaedinger, De Graecorum magistratibus eponymis quaestiones epigraphicae selectae (Diss. Strassburg 1892) has there been a treatment of the subject as a whole, although the growth of the material in this regard has been enormous.1 What is missing, however, is an attempt to bring the material up to date in a comprehensive survey covering the whole Greek world, at least as far as possible. The present article, of which this is only the first part, will present that material in a geographically organized manner: mainland Greece and the adjacent islands, then the Aegean islands, Asia Minor and Thrace, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Sicily, and southern Italy. All the epi- graphic remains of that area have been examined and catalogued. General observations and conclusions will be presented after the evidence as a whole has been given. I. Earliest Examples of Eponymity The earliest form of writing appeared in Sumer and Assyria sometime within the last half of the fourth millennium BC, and from there it spread westward. Thus, it is not at all surpris- ing that the Mesopotamian civilizations also made the earliest use of assigning names or events to years in dating historical records.
    [Show full text]
  • Special Articles
    Walmsley Crichton-Browne’s biological psychiatry special articles Psychiatric Bulletin (2003), 27,20^22 T. WAL M S L E Y Crichton-Browne’s biological psychiatry Sir James Crichton-Browne (1840^1938) held a uniquely the brothers at the centre of British phrenology in distinguished position in the British psychiatry of his Edinburgh in the 1820s. time. Unburdened by false modesty, he called himself The central proposition of phrenology ^ that ‘the doyen of British medical psychology’ and, in the the brain is the organ of the mind ^ seems entirely narrow sense, he was indeed its most senior practitioner. unremarkable today. In the 1820s, however, it was a At the time of his death, he could reflect on almost half provocative notion with worrying implications for devout a century’s service as Lord Chancellor’s Visitor and a religious people. In Edinburgh, George Combe attached similar span as a Fellow of the Royal Society. great importance to drawing the medical profession into Yet,today,ifheisrememberedatall,itisasanearly an alliance and he pursued this goal with determination proponent of evolutionary concepts of mental disorder and occasional spectacular setbacks. (Crow, 1995). Summarising his decade of research at In 1825, Andrew Combe advanced phrenological the West Riding Asylum in the 1870s, Crichton-Browne ideas in debate at the Royal Medical Society and the proposed that in the insane the weight of the brain furore which followed resulted in the Society issuing writs was reduced, the lateral ventricles were enlarged and the prohibiting the phrenologists from publishing the burden of damage fell on the left cerebral hemisphere in proceedings.
    [Show full text]
  • Resources on Charles Darwin, Evolution, and the Galapagos Islands: a Selected Bibliography
    Library and Information Services Division Current References 2009-1 The Year of Darwin 2009 Discovering Darwin at NOAA Central Library: Resources on Charles Darwin, Evolution, and the Galapagos Islands: A Selected Bibliography Prepared by Anna Fiolek and Kathleen A. Kelly U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service National Oceanographic Data Center NOAA Central Library October 2009 http://www.lib.noaa.gov/researchtools/subjectguides/darwinbib.pdf Contents: Preface …………………………………………………………………. p. 3 Acknowledgment ………………………………………………………. p. 4 I. Darwin Chronology ………………………………………………….. p. 5-6 II. Monographic Publications By or About Charles Darwin ………... p. 7-13 in the NOAA Central Library Network Catalog (NOAALINC) III. Internet Resources Related to Charles Darwin ……. ……………. p. 14-17 And His Science (Including online images and videos) IV. Darwin Science-related Journals in the NOAA Libraries’………. p. 17-18 Network 2 Preface This Bibliography has been prepared to support NOAA Central Library (NCL) outreach activities during the Year of Darwin 2009, including a “Discovering Darwin at NOAA Central Library” Exhibit. The Year of Darwin 2009 has been observed worldwide by libraries, museums, academic institutions and scientific publishers, to honor the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species and the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. This Bibliography reflects the library’s unique print and online resources on Charles Darwin, Evolution, and the Galapagos Islands. It includes citations organized “by title” from NOAALINC, the library’s online catalog, and from the library’s historical collections. The data and listings are comprehensive from the 19th century to the present. The formats represented in this resource include printed monographs, serial publications, graphical materials, videos, online full-text documents, a related journal list, and Web resources.
    [Show full text]
  • Complete Guide to GRE Vocabulary
    Complete Guide to GRE Vocabulary Assorted words and definitions from a GRE expert compiled for your entertainment and edification. updated 9/1/15 1 Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................... 3 About Us ................................................................................................................... 4 What is Magoosh? ...................................................................................................... 4 Featured in ............................................................................................................. 4 Why Our Students Love Us ........................................................................................... 5 How to Use Vocabulary Lists ........................................................................................... 7 Timmy’s Vocabulary Lists ............................................................................................ 7 Shirley’s Vocabulary Lists ............................................................................................ 7 Timmy’s Triumph ...................................................................................................... 8 Takeway ................................................................................................................. 8 Making Words Stick: Memorizing GRE Vocabulary ................................................................... 9 Come up with Clever (and Wacky) Associations .................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Psychiatry in Descent: Darwin and the Brownes Tom Walmsley Psychiatric Bulletin 1993, 17:748-751
    Psychiatry in descent: Darwin and the Brownes Tom Walmsley Psychiatric Bulletin 1993, 17:748-751. Access the most recent version at DOI: 10.1192/pb.17.12.748 References This article cites 0 articles, 0 of which you can access for free at: http://pb.rcpsych.org/content/17/12/748.citation#BIBL Reprints/ To obtain reprints or permission to reproduce material from this paper, please write permissions to [email protected] You can respond http://pb.rcpsych.org/cgi/eletter-submit/17/12/748 to this article at Downloaded http://pb.rcpsych.org/ on November 25, 2013 from Published by The Royal College of Psychiatrists To subscribe to The Psychiatrist go to: http://pb.rcpsych.org/site/subscriptions/ Psychiatrie Bulle!in ( 1993), 17, 748-751 Psychiatry in descent: Darwin and the Brownes TOMWALMSLEY,Consultant Psychiatrist, Knowle Hospital, Fareham PO 17 5NA Charles Darwin (1809-1882) enjoys an uneasy pos Following this confident characterisation of the ition in the history of psychiatry. In general terms, Darwinian view of insanity, it comes as a disappoint he showed a personal interest in the plight of the ment that Showalter fails to provide any quotations mentally ill and an astute empathy for psychiatric from his work; only one reference to his many publi patients. On the other hand, he has generated deroga cations in a bibliography running to 12pages; and, in tory views of insanity, especially through the writings her general index, only five references to Darwin, all of English social philosophers like Herbert Spencer of them to secondary usages. (Interestingly, the last and Samuel Butler, the Italian School of "criminal of these, on page 225, cites Darwin as part of anthropology" and French alienists including Victor R.
    [Show full text]
  • Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections
    PROCEEDINGS OF THE Biological Society of Washington. WITH THE ADDRESSES READ ON THE OCCASION OF THE DARWIN MEMORIAL MEETING, May 12, 1882. PUBLISHED WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITITTION. Volume I. November 19, 1880, to May 26, 1882. WASHINGTON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY. 18S2. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE. G. BROWN GOODE. RICHARD RATHBUN. LESTER F. WARD. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. This volume of Proceedings is published in obedience to the vote of the Society, passed May 26, 1882. The Biological Soci- ety of Washington was organized December 3, 1880, and at the time of its summer adjournment, in 1882, carries upon its roll the names of one hundred and thirty-nine active members, one hon- orary member, and twenty corresponding members. It has held thirty-one regular meetings, three special meetings, and one field meeting. At its regular meetings fifty-four communications have been presented, nearly all of which, except informal verbal com- munications, have already been published, as is indicated in the bibliographical foot notes. It has inaugurated and, in conjunction with the Anthropological Society, carried on a course of eight popular scientific lectures, four of which were delivered in its special behalf, and all of which were delivered by its members. The meetings of the Society have always been held in rooms provided by the courtesy of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution ; the first fifteen in the Regents' Room of the Smith- sonian Institution ; the sixteenth to the twenty-fourth in the Archive Room of the National Museum ; the subsequent meetings in the Lecture Room of the Museum. In preparing the proceedings of the Society for publication, the Secretaries have omitted the record of the election of members from the minutes of the several meetings, the information there contained being presented in a much more convenient form in the " List of Members." LIST Council and Officers BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.
    [Show full text]
  • Galapagos-Islands-Excerpt.Pdf
    l i f e a n d l e g a C y ne of the central reasons that the Galápagos OIslands are well known today is because of a visit in 1835 by Charles Darwin, the father of biological evolution. While his visit to the Galápagos played a role in his development of evolutionary ideas, many other factors also contributed to his ideas. Darwin was raised in a minimally religious home. Although he studied medicine and prepared for the priesthood, he eventually became a naturalist. Darwin’s theological views were greatly impacted by mentors and others throughout his education. These individuals wanted to radically change society because of their belief that God did not exist. 42 In 1831, Darwin was asked to be a naturalist on the Beagle, a ship that would survey and chart coasts all over the world. By this time, Darwin was already convinced that the history presented in the Old Testament was false and thus, the 6,000-year age of the earth inferred from Scripture could not be correct. On the ship Darwin brought with him Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology. Lyell popularized the idea of uniformitarianism, that present-day geological processes were the same processes that shaped the earth in the past. He dismissed the biblical history of Noah’s catastrophic Flood and was convinced that millions of years of slow processes had formed the earth. Dismissal of the Bible’s history and the endorsement of millions of years of time provided an important foundation for Darwin’s development of evolutionary ideas.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution and Science FBC Student Notes.Pages
    EVOLUTION AND SCIENCE David Cloud Way of Life Literature www.wayofife.org Copyright 2015 Tese studies are from An Unshakeable Faith: An Apologetics Course, 2015 edition. Outline Introduction History of Evolution Darwin Skeptics Today Natural Selection Mutations Billions of Years Ape Men Fossil Record Introduction THE FIERCE BATTLE Churches are losing the youth. An Answers in Genesis survey found that two-thirds of children and teens who regularly attend “conservative” churches are gone by college age. According to an email survey I took in 2010 the average number of youth who drop out of churches that responded is 50%. Titus 1:9-12; we must shut the mouths of the skeptics by refuting their error. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE To protect you Te frst use of apologetics not to convince the unbeliever but to protect the believer, his family, and fellow believers. 1 When we are grounded in apologetics, we are not confused when we hear arguments by evolutionists, atheists, new agers, and cultists, either in person, in print, on the radio or television, or on the Internet. When we visit natural history museums we can see through the error of the displays. Churches must prepare the people to face the onslaught of end-time skepticism and apostasy, but most churches aren’t doing this. Tere are two common failings: (1) churches not careful enough about salvation; (2) churches not serious enough about training and discipleship. It is time to put away more of the games and get serious about these things. To prepare you to help other believers Every believer is to be a teacher (Heb.
    [Show full text]
  • GIPE-000188-Contents.Pdf
    A~CIE~T INDIA. [I . ,_GI ImalDl ~ DISCUIH BY GIPE-PUNE KTESIAS THE K...,"IDIA...'; . BEIIG I JR.\ISLATlOII OF THE IBRIDCElm vi .. ~ IDQ­ BY PHOTIOS. DO OF THE _ • lUI' _ PIIESEHYEI • 8llIfI IIIiITEIIL J. W. lfcCRIS1>LE, lLA., ]l.R..V!., ... n ~.K." 'IWW ... D .....' ~.d:S.a,. Lin ~ ...... '.,i __ ," _ ~.....,.,..,. ____ nu.....,.-u.u.----- ~n. _ ..... a:s..-..-:J'Y &rp ........ ' .....i+S t) ,... .11.< ~ , ............-...- JIIJL I: .1<.112: , •• h" ~Ci:ElL gn:(tr .. 0::.. •. L L ",EM. J ..... : TatUn.. r..... BOJiBAY ; PRINTED AT THE EDUCATION SUOIEyy'a PR~, BYCt:LLA. VL{ It- ,e fJl 1<g<6 PltEFA'CE THIS little book forms the third volume of the series of Annotated Translations of those works of the Classical writers which r~late to Ancient India. The volumesnlready issued contain Translations of the Fragments of Megasthen8s-of the Indikn of~Arrian­ and of the Peri plus of the Eryth.",an Sea; . and in those wliich. are to follow will be rendered the Geography of India a. given by Strabo' and by Ptolemy, aqd the accounts of the Mai:edoni~n Invasion as given by Arrian Bnd by Curtius-and these works will complete the series. Upper NONoo" ; December. 1881. CONTENTS. PAOB Introduction 1 THE lND11U OF K1'ESU.S:- Fr.. g. I. Ecloga in Photii, Bibl. LXXII, p. 144 S<qq.... 7 Frag. II. From Arl'ian, .Anab. Book V.4, 2..................... 34 Frog. III. Strabo, Geog. Book XV. From the lndika of Arrian, 30 ...... ...... 35 Frng. IV. lElian, De Nat. .Anim. l;look XVII. 29 ........
    [Show full text]
  • Hereas Text B Is Only Presented in Hand-Copies
    233 OLD ASSYRIAN CHRONOLOGY 234 HOOFDARTIKEL Eponym List contains 129 names, starting with the first epo- nym known to hold this office at the beginning of the reign of King Erisum I. It covers the period from approximately WEEKS, MONTHS AND YEARS IN OLD ASSYRIAN 1 1974-1846 BC, which is the larger part of the Assyrian com- CHRONOLOGY ) mercial presence in the lower city or Karum (Level II) of the central Anatolian city of Kanesh. The book further contains JAN GERRIT DERCKSEN, LEIDEN a discussion of the colophon in text A, of the institution of the year-eponym in Assur and a brief discussion of the attes- Abstract tations of the individual eponyms, as well as observations on 5 This article reviews two recent, seminal books on Old Assyrian the chronology of Karum Levels II and Ib. ) Hand-copies and Chronology (ca. 2000-1725 BC), and discusses evidence for the photos are included of the main text, A (Kt 92/k 193), term hamustum, traditionally understood as “week”. whereas text B is only presented in hand-copies. The tran- scription of the list is that of text A. In recent years, C. Günbattı has published other tablets containing part of the Eponym List, Kt n/k 517+1571 and Kt Introduction p/k 9 (Günbattı 2008b). A significant contribution is his pub- Shortly after the decipherment of texts from Kültepe lication of Kt 01/k 287 (Günbattı 2008a), a document which (ancient Kanesh) in the last decades of the 19th century AD, starts with eponym KEL 110 and continues well into the it became known that Old Assyrian (or Cappadocian, as they Level Ib-period.
    [Show full text]
  • Applicability and Critical Analysis of the Use of Eponyms in Health Sciences
    Short communication http://dx.doi.org/10.4322/jms.064814 Applicability and critical analysis of the use of eponyms in Health Sciences BATIGÁLIA, F.1*, BOER, N. P.2, MARCATTO, G.2, MARCATTO, G.2 and BOER, A. L. R.2 1Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto – FAMERP, CEP 15090-000, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brasil 2Universidade Camilo Castelo Branco – UNICASTELO, CEP 15600-000, Fernandópolis, SP, Brasil *E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Introduction: Specific words have been adopted to designate the several structures in Human Anatomy. However, the same structure has different names, usually derived from proper names (or Eponyms), which is still reflected in conceptual errors that complicate the Teaching and Learning of Anatomy in Multidisciplinary, Transdisciplinarity and Metadisciplinarity approaches. Within the current importance of the generalist, critical and humanistic background of the professional, the multiplicity of names of scientists and researchers attributed to anatomical structures has created real difficulties during the preparation, writing and reading of scientific papers, including the communication between Researchers and Professors. Objective: The aim of this study was to critically analyze the use of eponyms in Health Sciences, as well as compiling the eleven mains terms in which the same eponym has been used to identify at least two different structures. Results: Eponyms are not representatives of the first anatomists to describe structures or indicate some topographic, morphological or functional aspects associated with parts of the Human Body, and so must be replaced with a location, descriptive or etiological terminology that facilitates the structural understanding. Conclusion: Because of its clinical importance, eponyms will not completely disappear, but due to discrepancies and secondary confusions to its use, there have been many suggestions and impositions of anatomical societies to minimize their use.
    [Show full text]