AT A scientific conference in 1906, physician announced the existence of strange tangles and deposits in the cerebral cortex of a highly confused patient in her 50s who had recently died. He was greeted with silence and only one line of press coverage.
Today, Alzheimer鈥檚 disease is endlessly studied, along with Parkinson鈥檚, Tourette鈥檚, Asperger鈥檚 and the eight other 鈥渄isturbances of the mind鈥� detailed in this intriguing book by psychology historian . He explores both the histories of these conditions and the biographies of the people whose names they acquired.
What fascinates Draaisma is how the names of diseases came to follow statistician Stephen Stigler鈥檚 1980 law: 鈥淣o scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.鈥� Alzheimer鈥檚 discovery, by his own admission, was preceded by a colleague鈥檚 in 1898. The key intervention is usually the blessing of a later powerful scientific figure.
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Cambridge University Press