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Re: Quest to find film reenactments of Galvani's experiment 

Angela:

According to WorldCat/OCLC, these items are held at some US libraries:

(1a)
Galvani and Volta: an early debate in science. [Motion picture]  Gilbert 
Altschul Productions. Released by Journal Films, 1962.  15 min. : sd., b&w ; 
16 mm.  [MOTION PICTURE]   OCLC: 42478342

- UNIV OF ALASKA, RASMUSON LIBR, FAIRBANKS, AK  99775-6805 USA

(1b)
Galvani and Volta. [Motion picture]  Journal Films, 1963.  15 min. sd., 
b&w 16 mm.  [MOTION PICTURE]  OCLC: 21383999

- NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV, DEKALB, IL 60115-2868 USA
- UNIV OF MICHIGAN LIBR, ANN ARBOR, MI  48109-1205 USA


There are a couple of addresses on the web for a "Journal Films" outfit 
which has been producing science videos well into the 1990s; try one of 
the following, to see if they are the ones you want and if they (or 
their distributor) still offer the film in their catalog (or, if not, 
would permit you to order film-to-video duplication through one of 
these libraries):
- 930 Pitner Avenue, Evanston, IL 60202
- 1560 Sherman Ave. Suite 100, Evanston ,IL 60201 (800) 323-5448 


(2)
The Nerve impulse [videorecording] / producer-director, Charles L. Finance ; 
writer, Thomas Caulfield.  Chicago : Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational 
Corp., c1971.  1 videocassette (21 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 1/2 
in. + 1 guide.  [VIDEORECORDING]  OCLC: 13684095

- BERGEN COMMUN COL, PARAMUS, NJ 07652-1595 USA
- GEORGIAN COURT COL LIBR, LAKEWOOD, NJ  08701 USA

Call Encylopedia Britannica's Educational Sales office at 
1-800-621-3900.


You will also be interested in the website "Bicentenary of the death of 
Luigi Galvani / Celebrazioni del bicentenario della morte di Luigi 
Galvani" <http://www.bo.infn.it/galvani/> .  Its links include 
"Catalogue of the Galvani-Volta Exhibition"; apparently the curators 
are beginning to mount an online version of the exhibition  
<http://www.bo.infn.it/galvani/cultura-estero/latin-america/pannelli/index.html> .

Finally, since you're looking for recommendations of additional 
audiovisual aids, I'm taking the liberty of forwarding your query to the
"HISTNEUR-L: The History of Neuroscience Internet Forum" (see 
<http://www.medsch.ucla.edu/som/bri/archives/histneur.htm> for 
complete information); there are several historians of neurophysiology 
and neurochemistry on this list--which has 250 members around the 
world--who will be interested in corresponding with you about your 
project, I'm sure. 

Cheers,

Russell Johnson

P.S.  I'll be interested to hear about the success of your quest; these 
films/videos sound like items we should purchase, if we can, to have at 
UCLA!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Date:       Tue, 18 Jan 2000 10:20:32 GMT0BST
To:         H-SCI-MED-TECH@H-NET.MSU.EDU
From:       Iwan Morus <i.morus@qub.ac.uk>
Subject:    QUERY: Quest to find film reenactments of Galvani's experiment
Sender:     "H-NET List on the History of Science, Medicine, and 
Technology" <H-SCI-MED-TECH@H-NET.MSU.EDU>

On Tue, 18 Jan 2000 10:20:32 GMT0BST Iwan Morus >
wrote:

< "Angela N.H. Creager" <creager@Princeton.EDU> writes:
< 
< In revamping Princeton's history of biology lecture
< course around the theme of changing practices and materials, I am
< seeking to incorporate hands-on or visual learning experiences for
< several significant developments in biology since the beginning of
< the nineteenth century.  At the beginning of this term, we will be
< reading Galvani's paper in which he reports his finding of animal
< electricity using a frog muscle. In the HSS's "Magic Lantern" guide, I
< have found mention of two films which provide re-enactments of
< this experiment but have not been able to find copies of either one.
< Does anyone know where I might obtain either of these films--or
< any other videos or audiovisual materials to illustrate the
< experiment?  (These citations are copied from "The Magic
< Lantern.")
< 
< "Galvani and Volta: An Early Debate in Science"
< 15 min, 1963
< Reenacts the electrical experiments of Luigi Galvani and
< Alessandro Volta. 16 mm, black and white Distributed by Journal
< Films as late as 1986; Journal Films was subsequently acquired by
< AGC United, which no longer has the film.
< 
< "Nerve Impulse"
< 22 min, 1971
< Explores the history of the scientific investigation of the nature of
< the nerve impulse. Includes the experiments conducted by Galvani,
< Dubois-Reymond, Helmholtz, Bernstein, Hodgkin, and Huxley. Video,
< color No distributor listed
< 
< Angela N.H. Creager
< Department of History and
<    Program in History of Science
< 129 Dickinson Hall
< Princeton University
< Princeton NJ 08544-1017
< Voice (609) 258-1680; Fax (609) 258-5326

___________________________________________________
Russell A. Johnson        rjohnson@library.ucla.edu

Archivist and Cataloger              (310) 825-6940
History & Special Collections Division
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA
Box 951798     Los Angeles CA  90095-1798
<http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/his/hisdiv.htm>

Archivist              (310) 825-3191  or  206-2753
Neuroscience History Archives
Brain Research Institute, UCLA
Box 951761     Los Angeles CA  90095-1761
<http://www.medsch.ucla.edu/som/bri/archives/nhahome.htm>
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