HISTNEUR-L: The History of Neuroscience Internet Forum

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Re: memory-transfer 

Arthur T. Murray:

Many thanks for your response to my query. I am greatly interested in
that 'small tidbit about the scotophobin episode' that is forthcoming. 
Not much has appeared thus far--Alexander Kohn has a four-and-one-half
page squib--no intensive analysis--on scotophobin in a chapter entitled
"Error or Deception" in his False Prophets (Basil Blackwell, 1986 and
Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch devote the first chapter of their The
Golem: What Everyone Should Know About Science (Cambridge University
Press, 1993) to a brief analysis of the case that draws largely on the
dissertation and two published papers of one of Collins' students,
G.D.L. Travis.

I have a copy of the newspaper article you sent, published in 'other'
newspapers!  You'll note that it is an 'Associated Press' report that
was sent out over the wires and, it turns out, picked up by dozens of
newspapers.  Indeed, many of my respondents complained about the press
coverage that was given to this work and if you look again at this news
clipping you might see why: the work is portrayed straightforwardly as a
factual 'discovery' without any mention of the controversy surrounding
it.

Thanks again for the input (and good luck with your ESC).

Sincerely,

Larry Stern
<HISTNEUR-L@library.ucla.edu>