Pavlov's Physiology Factory: Experiment, Interpretation, Laboratory Enterprise. This item is unavailable.Pavlov's Physiology Factory: Experiment, Interpretation, Laboratory Enterprise

Russian physiologist and Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov is most famous for his development of the concept of the conditioned reflex and the classic experiment in which he trained a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. In this study, Daniel P. Todes explores Pavlov's early work in digestive physiology through the structures and practices of his landmark laboratory - the physiology department of the Imperial Institute for Experimental Medicine. In "Lectures on the Work of the Main Digestive Glands", for which Pavlov won the Nobel Prize in 1904, the scientist frequently referred to the experiments of other scientists in his department and stated that his conclusions reflected "the deed of the entire laboratory". This novel claim caused the prize committee some consternation. Was he alone deserving of the prize? Examining the fascinating substance of Pavlov's notebooks, unpublished memoirs, and laboratory publications, this text details the importance of Pavlov's directorship of what the author calls a "physiology factory" and illuminates the subsequent breakthroughs that established behaviourism as an approach to biological research and understanding. Todes contrasts Pavlov's roles as laboratory manager, experimentalist, entrepreneur, and scientific visionary. He discusses changes wrought by government and commercial interests in science and sheds light on the pathways of scientific development in Russia - making clear Pavlov's personal achievements while suggesting the limits of his hierarchical approach to scientific inquiry. The work thus addresses issues of importance to historians of science and scientists today: "big" versus "small" science, the most effective means of support, and the development of research cultures.

Daniel P. Todes is an associate professor of the history of science, medicine, and technology at the Johns Hopkins University.