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ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS

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Dějiny věd a techniky, No. 4, Vol. XLII (2009)

PAPERS

DVT 094, 209
Jaroslav Heyrovský and the Nobel Prize for chemistry: happy ending
Jaroslav Heyrovský a Nobelova cena za chemii: šťastný konec
Jiří Jindra

Jaroslav Heyrovský was awarded by the Nobel Prize for chemistry (polarography) in 1959, 35 years after the first proposal for this prize. He got 56 nominations from 12 foreign and 32 Czechoslovak nominators from 1934 through 1959. He was also proposed in the category of Nobel Prizes for physics (5 nominations from Czech physicists) and Nobel Prizes for physiology and medicine (14 nominations from 14 Czech physicians). The paper describes in detail the situation in 1955–1959, and especially December 10, 1959, when the Nobel Prize was handed solemnly to Heyrovský in Stockholm.

Key words:
J. Heyrovský • polarography • analytic chemistry • Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1959


DVT 094, 225
Department of Iron Metallurgy at the College of Mining and Forestry of Banská Štiavnica and the contribution of Prof. V. Barlai to the establishment of the experimental laboratory for iron metal­lurgy
Katedra železohutníctva na Vysokej škole baníckej a lesníckej v Banskej Štiavnici a zásluhy jej profesora V. Barlaia na založení železohutníckeho experimentálneho laboratória
Ivan Herčko – Estera Hrončeková

The study deals with the teaching of iron metallurgy at the College of Mining of Banská Štiavnica (the academy was given this name with the last school reorganisation in 1904) at the time when Professor Vojtěch Barlai established an experimental laboratory of iron metallurgy in 1906–08. In the introduction, the authors briefly review the teaching of metallurgy from the foundation of the Mining Academy, where, after the preparatory planning, Professor Mikuláš Jozef Jacquin held his first lessons on 18 September 1764. Teaching in the Department of Chemistry, Mineralogy and Metallurgy continued until 1840, when the teaching of metallurgy gradually became self-standing. The separate teaching of ferrous metallurgy was introduced by Professor Anton Kerpely in 1768.

In the school year 1870–1871 the metallurgy and iron sciences branched, and in 1872 an independent Department of Steel Industry was established. A. Kerpely taught in the new department until 1881. Viliam Sóltz succeeded him and after Sóltz retired in 1901, Vojtech Neuherz became his successor (in 1904 he changed his surname to Barlai). Barlai emphasized the practical teaching of ferrous metallurgy. He also established an experimental laboratory for professors and students, which was designed for physical experiments and tests in the field of iron metallurgy. This study also deals with the activities of the laboratory and its apparatus.

Key words:
iron metallurgy • 19th–20th century • Banská Štiavnica • laboratory • Mining Academy • Vojtech Barlai • Anton Kerpely • Mikuláš Jozef Jacquin • Department of Chemistry, Mineralogy and Metallurgy


DVT 094, 241
Emigration of workers of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences – its beginnings between 1953–1966
Počátky emigrace pracovníků ČSAV v letech 1953–1966 (materiálová studie)
Jan Hálek – Václav Hankovec

The aim of this article is to describe the foreign relations of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Emphasis is placed on organization and administration. The article is based on documents that provide information on one of the first attempts of the Academy to deal with the emigration question. Emigration resulted mainly from private tours, and the destinations were first of all the countries in the capitalist world. The main reasons for emigration can be found in a few areas. In the first place was the desire to work in free conditions. The research in socialistic Czechoslovakia was restrained on a long-term basis by the lack of foreign exchange. Among other factors affecting the need to emigrate were the desire for better personal material security, political affiliations, and other individual issues.

The Academy dealt with foreign relations from the very beginning of its existence. The development of the international scientific cooperation required an implementation of appropriate steps in the organizational and administrative area. Within the Office of the Presidium of the Academy, the agenda was administered under the direction of the Office for Foreign Relations. According to the Directive for operating and administration of the foreign policy of the Academy of February 1962, the Academy was designated the sole representative of Czechoslovak science authorized to make agreements and plans about scientific cooperation. All foreign relations of the Academy were supposed to be administered by the Presidium of the Academy, which was directly responsible to the Czechoslovak government.

A bureaucratic formulation was developed for sending workers of the Academy abroad. They abided by the code of maximum vigilance and wariness. A certain liberalization in the strictly applied rules began in 1965 through new directives of the presidium of the Academy. The Academy gained the right to coordinate foreign relations that were related only to a basic research, and also the whole bureaucratic process for sending workers of the Academy abroad was simplified. The emigration of workers of the Academy came to a head during and after the Prague spring of 1968. The upcoming normalization and the shutting-off the borders towards the west caused a decline in emigration.

Key words:
1950s–1960s • the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences • emigration • foreign relations



© M. Barvík 2008