In the wake of one publication, or about the attitude to the history of science as a science
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu11.2022.407Abstract
The article is a historical investigation devoted to reliability of Professor T. A. Ginetsinskaya’s
publication about the circumstances of Professor E. S. Danini’s speech (December 1954) criticizing
O. B. Lepeshinskaya’s “new cellular theory”. After analyzing scientific sources, memoirs
of contemporaries of the described events and comparing the dates, the author proves
that E. S. Danini’s speech in the context given in T. A. Ginetsinskaya’s article could not have
taken place in reality. It took place in other circumstances and was not so dramatic. This is
indicated by the documented memories of eyewitnesses and participants of the meetings, as
well as materials of speeches by members of the Society of Anatomists, histologists and embryologistsat
the Institute of Experimental Medicine (including E. S. Danini). In addition, it
is shown that criticism of Lepeshinskaya’s “new cellular theory” had begun much earlier than
December 1954. The article provides data of numerous critical speeches about Lepeshinskaya’s
theory at various meetings in 1953 and 1954. Criticism of Lepeshinskaya’s views by the end of
1954 ceased to pose a danger to critics, and therefore the drama of the situation described in
Ginetsinskaya’s article does not seem to correspond to the realities of that time.
Keywords:
T. A. Ginetsinskaya, E. S. Danini, O. B. Lepeshinskaya, new cell theory, history of science
Downloads
References
References
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Medicine" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.