Educational

AT&T brought its former president, Theodore Vail, out of retirement to help it fight off competition erupting from the expiration of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patents. Vail's solution: transcontinental telephone service.
In 1906, the eccentric American inventor Lee De Forest developed a triode in a vacuum tube. It was a device that could amplify signals, including, it was hoped, signals on telephone lines as they were transferred across the country from one switch box to another. AT&T bought De Forest's patent and vastly improved the tube. It allowed the signal to be amplified regularly along the line, meaning that a telephone conversation could go on across any distance as long as there were amplifiers along the way.

In accordance with the mandate to study the "Transformation of Canada," the collection of the Canada Science and Technology Museum encompasses a broad cross-section of Canadian scientific and technological heritage. National in scope, this unique collection consists of artifacts, photographs, technical drawings, trade literature, and rare books, all of which are complemented and supported by library holdings of monographs and serials.

In 1988, the Space Foundation in cooperation with NASA, established the Space Technology Hall of Fame. Its purpose is threefold: to honor the innovators who have transformed technology originally developed for space use into commercial products; to increase public awareness of the benefits of space spinoff technology; and to encourage further innovation.

The Mayans devised a counting system that was able to represent very large numbers by using only 3 symbols, a dot, a bar, and a symbol for zero, or completion, usually a shell. The chart above shows the first complete cycle of numbers. Like our numbering system, they used place values to expand this system to allow the expression of very large values. Their system has two significant differences from the system we use: 1) the place values are arranged vertically, and 2) they use a base 20, or vigesimal, system. This means that, instead of the number in the second postion having a value 10 times that of the numeral (as in 11 - 1 × 10 + 1 × 1), in the Mayan system, the number in the second place has a value 20 times the value of the numeral. The number in the third place has a value of (20)2, or 400, times the value of the numeral. This principle is illustrated in the chart below.

The Historical Metallurgy Society Ltd. is a company limited by guarantee. It provides a forum for exchange of information and research in historical metallurgy. It aims to gain recognition for the subject from the community at large and to be consulted when issues of preservation and recording arise. Established in 1962, HMS covers all aspects of the history of metals and associated materials, production and use, technology and economics; from prehistory to the present.

The Research Group on the Social Aspects of Health and Prevention (GRASP) is a multidisciplinary research centre attached to the University of Montréal. It comprises a group of researchers, research professionals, and graduate students interested in analyzing social dynamics in the areas of health and well-being. They have in common an interest in and a concern for issues relating to population health, an approach with a comprehensive vision of the social aspects of health and prevention. A number of GRASP research projects are thus undertaken jointly by researchers in different disciplines in order to bring to bear a broad range of viewpoints and theoretical orientations.

Chinese medicine is as valuable today as it has been for thousands of years and is enjoying new-found respect from modern western medical researchers. In Taiwan, the main research body specializing in this branch of medicine is the Committee on Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy ¤¤ÂåÃÄ©e­û·| (CCMP) under the DOH, whose members are selected from the nation's most distinguished practitioners of Chinese medicine. As of December 2001, there were 3,979 licensed doctors of Chinese medicine practicing in the Taiwan area, 2,588 Chinese medical hospitals and clinics, 12,864 licensed dealers of herbal medicines, and 238 manufacturers of herbal medicines.

The University of Exeter has an established and growing reputation for research and publications within the field of medical history and for the social study of contemporary medical and health-related activities. The recent formation of the Institute of Clinical Science has brought together and focused the impressive expertise which Exeter possesses in the clinical aspects of medicine, drawing clinical scientists on the different campus sites and improving links between colleagues in order to increase the base of expertise and to raise the funding prospects of such work within the University. Medical history and applied social study of medicine is an established strength at the University and has enabled the University to create a significant reputation in the field. Exeter has also taken a lead in areas such as complementary medicine.

International E-mail Directory of Historians of Pharmacy
A world-wide directory of researchers in the History of Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Therapeutics

The mission of FASEB is to enhance the ability of biomedical and life scientists to improve, through their research, the health, well-being, and productivity of all people. FASEB is a coalition of independent Member Societies that serve the interests of biomedical and life scientists, particularly those related to public policy issues. FASEB facilitates coalition activities among Member Societies and disseminates information on biological research through scientific conferences and publications. FASEB also offers Member Societies headquarters facilities, and operational and logistic support.