Koehler Peter J, Stahnisch Frank W
a Department of Neurology , Atrium Medical Centre , Heerlen , Netherlands.
J Hist Neurosci. 2014;23(1):1-30. doi: 10.1080/0964704X.2013.774246. Epub 2013 Oct 1.
The emergence of neurology as a separate specialty from internal medicine and psychiatry took several decades, starting at the end of the nineteenth century. This can be adequately reconstructed by focusing on the establishment of specialized journals, societies, university chairs, the invention and application of specific instruments, medical practices, and certainly also the publication of pivotal textbooks in the field. Particularly around 1900, the German-speaking countries played an integral role in this process. In this article, one aspect is extensively explored, notably the publication (in the twentieth century) of three comprehensive and influential multivolume and multiauthor handbooks entirely devoted to neurology. All available volumes of Max Lewandowsky's Handbuch der Neurologie (1910-1914) and the Handbuch der Neurologie (1935-1937) of Oswald Bumke and Otfrid Foerster were analyzed. The handbooks were then compared with Pierre Vinken's and George Bruyn's Handbook of Clinical Neurology (1968-2002). Over the span of nearly a century these publications became ever more comprehensive and developed into a global, encompassing project as is reflected in the increasing number of foreign authors. Whereas the first two handbooks were published mainly in German, "Vinken & Bruyn" was eventually published entirely in English, indicating the general changes in the scientific language of neurology after World War II. Distinctions include the uniformity of the series, manner of editorial involvement, thematic comprehensiveness, inclusion of volume editors in "Vinken & Bruyn," and the provision of index volumes. The increasing use of authorities in various neurological subspecialties is an important factor by which these handbooks contrast with many compact neurological textbooks that were available at the time. For historiographical purposes, the three neurological handbooks considered here were important sources for the general study of the history of medicine and science and the history of neurology in particular. Moreover, they served as important catalyzers of the emergence of neurology as a new clinical specialty during the first decades of the twentieth century.
神经病学作为一门独立于内科和精神病学的专科，从19世纪末开始，历经了几十年才得以形成。通过关注专业期刊的创办、学会的成立、大学教职的设立、特定仪器的发明与应用、医疗实践，当然还有该领域关键教科书的出版，这一过程能够得到充分的重现。特别是在1900年前后，德语国家在这一进程中发挥了不可或缺的作用。在本文中，将广泛探讨其中一个方面，即（20世纪）三本全面且有影响力的多卷本、多作者手册的出版，这些手册完全专注于神经病学领域。对马克斯·莱万多夫斯基的《神经病学手册》（1910 - 1914年）以及奥斯瓦尔德·邦克和奥特弗里德·福斯特的《神经病学手册》（1935 - 1937年）的所有现存卷册进行了分析。然后将这些手册与皮埃尔·温肯和乔治·布鲁因的《临床神经病学手册》（1968 - 2002年）进行了比较。在近一个世纪的时间跨度里，这些出版物变得越来越全面，并发展成为一个全球性的、涵盖广泛的项目，这从外国作者数量的增加中得到了体现。前两本手册主要以德文出版，而《温肯与布鲁因》最终完全以英文出版，这表明了第二次世界大战后神经病学科学语言的总体变化。不同之处包括系列的统一性、编辑参与的方式、主题的全面性、《温肯与布鲁因》中卷册编辑的纳入以及索引卷册的提供。在各个神经亚专科中越来越多地引用权威观点，是这些手册与当时许多简明神经病学教科书形成对比的一个重要因素。出于史学研究的目的，这里所考虑的这三本神经病学手册是医学和科学史，尤其是神经病学史的一般研究的重要资料来源。此外，它们在20世纪的头几十年里，还充当了神经病学作为一门新的临床专科出现的重要催化剂。
