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Date of publication Jun 21, 2004 Category: Article

Images of madness. The end of mental hospitals illustrated through photographs

by Federica Manzoli

The use of photography in the field of psychiatry is an eloquent example of the complex evolution of the relationship between science, communication and society. The research that follows analyses the development of such a relationship in a crucial period of the history of psychiatry: the 1970s. That was the time that witnessed the revolution of a science which admitted the failure of its methods and "instruments", mental hospitals. That was also the time when a profound change took place in the communicative methods of photography related to this uncertain field of knowledge. A group of photographers, driven by the political situation of the time, covered the end of mental hospitals.

Volume 3Issue 022004
Date of publication Jun 21, 2004 Category: Letter

Free access to the scientific information in the Sars case

by Cristiana Pulcinelli

Volume 3Issue 022004
Date of publication Jun 21, 2004 Category: Article

The public's rapport with hands-on activities. An evaluation of "Explore-At-Bristol"

by Francesca Conti

In the summer of 2003, a survey was carried out at the At-Bristol Science Centre (UK) to determine the effectiveness of the hands-on activities of "Explore". The section evaluated included 43 interactive experiences divided into two themes. The first, "Get Connected", consisted of examples of the latest digital technologies, such as a television studio, virtual volleyball, and radars. The second, "Curiosity Zone", was dedicated to natural phenomena and subdivided into three additional groups: "Natural Forces" which presented various forces of nature, "Focus on Light", which dealt with the wonder of light, and "Sound Space", reserved for the science of sound. The survey was divided into two phases: the first consisted in observing the public's interaction with the hands-on activities; the second, in consulting the staff. The methods adopted helped determine the effectiveness of the exhibitdesign and the evaluation itself highlighted the role of a promoter of science as an evaluator.

Volume 3Issue 022004
Date of publication Jun 21, 2004 Category: Article

Language change in scientific discourse

by Monica Randaccio

Halliday has demonstrated that changes in discourse function covary with changes in the grammatical resources a language makes available to construe discourse. Specifically, he outlined the ways in which nominalisation evolved as a resource for construing scientific reality as a world of logical relations among abstract entities. In the present article,

Volume 3Issue 022004
Date of publication Mar 21, 2004 Category: Commentary

Elements for a geography of the metaphor in science

by Elena Joli

Volume 3Issue 012004
Date of publication Mar 21, 2004 Category: Editorial

Science and the international public opinion

by Pietro Greco

On 16 January 2004, the United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan launched a Global Media Aids Initiative, with the aim of convincing the press, radio, television and Internet to join the fight against what has been called the "forgotten disease of the forgotten continent". Throughout the world, over 40 million people have the Hiv virus. In 2003 there were 5 million new infections and 3 million deaths were caused by Aids.

Volume 3Issue 012004
Date of publication Mar 21, 2004 Category: Focus

Conflicting interests: research, profits, information, health

by Giancarlo Sturloni , Nico Pitrelli

On 15 September 2001, thirteen major international journals, coordinated by the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE), published a joint editorial titled "Sponsorship, authorship, and accountability". Unfortunately, only four days from the tragedy of 9-11, there is no room in the media for other news. In the scientific world, however, the content of that editorial sets off an alarm: the conflict of interest undermines the objectivity of biomedical research and the credibility of international journals vouchsafeing the quality of that research. (Translated by Andrea Cavatorti, Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori, Trieste, Italy.)

Volume 3Issue 012004
Date of publication Mar 21, 2004 Category: Commentary

The metaphors, Golden Gates that move the categories of our world

by Stefania Coluccia

Volume 3Issue 012004
Date of publication Mar 21, 2004 Category: Commentary

Metaphor and approximation of the world

by Daniele Gouthier

Volume 3Issue 012004
Date of publication Mar 21, 2004 Category: Focus

Anything to declare? Border stories on the conflict of interest

by Giancarlo Sturloni

On September 15, 2001, a joint editorial simultaneously published in thirteen medical journals, pointed an accusing finger at the increasing pressures coming from the pharmaceutical industry. During past decades, a key role in trial design and conduct was played by independent clinical investigators working in academic medical centres. They were also able to vouchsafe the quality of their research, which might not, however, be the case in the future.

Volume 3Issue 012004

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