A New Field in Mind
A History of Interdisciplinarity in the Early Brain Sciences
Examining the neglected organizational and research origins of the first interdisciplinary centres for the brain sciences.
Description
In recent decades, developments in research technologies and therapeutic advances have generated immense public recognition for neuroscience. However, its origins as a field, often linked to partnerships and projects at various brain-focused research centres in the United States during the 1960s, can be traced much further back in time. In A New Field in Mind Frank Stahnisch documents and analyzes the antecedents of the modern neurosciences as an interdisciplinary field. Although postwar American research centres, such as Francis O. Schmitt's Neuroscience Research Program at MIT, brought the modern field to prominence, Stahnisch reveals the pioneering collaborations in the early brain sciences at centres in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in the first half of the twentieth century. One of these, Heinrich Obersteiner's institute in Vienna, began its work in the 1880s. Through case studies and collective biographies, Stahnisch investigates the evolving relationships between disciplines - anatomy, neurology, psychiatry, physiology, serology, and neurosurgery - which created new epistemological and social contexts for brain research. He also shows how changing political conditions in Central Europe affected the development of the neurosciences, ultimately leading to the expulsion of many physicians and researchers under the Nazi regime and their migration to North America. An in-depth and innovative study, A New Field in Mind tracks the emergence and evolution of neuroscientific research from the late nineteenth century to the postwar period.
Awards
- Runner-up, Outstanding Book in the History of the Neurosciences 2022
Reviews
"A New Field of Mind is a rich and multifaceted case study that will have value to a wide audience of scholars interested in the themes of psychoanalysis, diaspora, institution building, and the creation of new fields through interdisciplinarity." Marjorie Lorch, University of London
"Stahnisch's examination of the neuroscientists' migration is part of a larger scholarship focus of scientific diaspora. Some might have felt like strangers in paradise, but many looked back to their homelands and fostered new networks. Why does rebuilding of transatlantic exchange relationships sound so anachronistic today? One other contribution of Stanisch's outstanding piece of historical scholarship is that he places the formative years of the neurosciences in a European context but warns of academic isolationism." The Lancet
"[A] fascinating revisionary historical account of the development of modern neuroscience ... This well-researched book provides many thought-provoking insights and gives intriguing examples of the changes in neurology and psychiatry, as they took place in the early Post-War Period and the changing research cultures in the lab and at the bedside. It emphasizes that the pioneers of modern neuroscience in fact had 'a new field in mind'." Neuroforum
"Brain research as a synthesis of neurological, psychiatric, psychoanalytical, endocrinological, physiological, anatomical and surgical efforts is considered as a North American discipline, discovered, shaped and advocated for since the 1960s. However, Frank W. Stahnisch makes it clear in his book that not only the individual sub-disciplines experienced their roots and heyday in Europe, but that interdisciplinary brain science itself was conceived in Europe and especially in German clinics and research institutes. [...] This is the great merit of this book, which aims to make today's doctors and researchers aware of their own history." Sudhoffs Archiv: Journal for the History of Science and Medicine
“[H]istory has profound insight to offer into the origins of the interdisciplinary complex of contemporary neuroscience. A New Field in Mind addresses these historical origins through a broad, masterful investigation of “interdisciplinarity” in the brain sciences.” Canadian Journal of Health History
“Stahnisch has done a phenomenal job putting together the puzzle of the foundation of neuroscience … It is hard to believe that this vital and authoritative book has not been written before. Stahnisch deserves credit for his ability to recognize a gap in the literature, draw connections between his research on the plights and tribulations of neuroscientist refugees, and connect that to the birth of modern neuroscience.” Journal of the History of the Neurosciences
“Stahnisch’s outstanding historiography of the precursors of modern neuroscience is highly recommended not only for historians of science and, more specifically, those concerned with neuroscience but also for a broad audience interested in medicine, cultural history, emigration history, and constellation studies as well as philosophy and the development of theory and circulation of knowledge.” University of Toronto Quarterly