Ivan Pavlov : a Russian life in science /

Todes (history of medicine, Johns Hopkins Univ.) has written a magisterial, deeply impressive, large-scale biography of Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), one of the most famous scientists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who is perhaps best known for his work on conditional (the usual term, conditioned, is a mistranslation) reflexes. Pavlov gained worldwide renown when he won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his research on the physiology of the digestive system and then became an icon of Russian and Soviet science as he extended his investigations by examining the linkage between physiology and psyche. The author deftly weaves a tapestry from the multiple facets of Pavlov's life and career while firmly grounding the portrait in the political, scientific, cultural, and social contexts of the time. The study is based on exhaustive research in a staggering array of printed and archival sources, many only recently available, as well as interviews with coworkers and family. Because of its heft and subject matter, this imposing biography may appear intimidating at first glance, but the author has succeeded in making it accessible to nonspecialists. This book should be in every academic library. Summing Up: Essential. All academic, general, and professional library collections. --Nathan M. Brooks, New Mexico State University

Todes (history of medicine, Johns Hopkins Univ.; Ivan Pavlov: Exploring the Animal Machine) follows Ivan Pavlov's life (1849-1936) from childhood and seminary school through his relationship with his mentor Il'ia Fadeevich Tsion; Tsion's decline; and where Pavlov went from there. Written in amazing detail, the book is well documented throughout with chapter notes and a lengthy bibliography, and will be accessible to educated lay readers. The intimate narrative discusses what Pavlov may have been thinking at different points in his life, referencing material that would lead to these conclusions. VERDICT Through this title, Russianists will get a clear picture of the country during Pavlov's time, and from his vantage, while physiologists and psychiatrists will find an accessible perspective on the scientist's works and research. No dogs will salivate, but historians of the era may delight in the level of detail this book has to offer.-Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen, Oregon Inst. of Technology, Portland (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

An expansive scholarly biography of Russia's most eminent scientist. Todes (Institute of History of Medicine/Johns Hopkins Univ.; Pavlov's Physiology Factory: Experiment, Interpretation, Laboratory Enterprise, 2001, etc.) traces the evolution of Ivan Pavlov's groundbreaking discoveries in the context of Russian history over the span of his life (1849-1936). This is the culmination of a decadeslong study of the scientist, whose name is iconic in the world of behaviorist psychology but whose work, according to Todes, is misunderstood. The author establishes that, unlike American behaviorists, Pavlov never "denied the importance or even the existence of an inner, subjective world. He also never used the term "conditioned reflex." He used the term "conditional" to describe the salivation of dogs expecting food upon receiving a signal such as the sound of a bell. The intention of the term was to distinguish "conditional reflexes," which might or might not occur, from automatic, unconditional responsese.g., caused by direct contact of food with the salivary glands. By the time Pavlov embarked on his well-known work with dogs, he had already received the Nobel Prize, which was awarded to him in 1904 for his studies on digestive physiology. These involved tracing how the arousal of appetite acted to stimulate "the secretory nerves of the gastric glands" and was followed up by excitations produced when food "excites the specialized nerves in the mucous membrane of the stomach." Politically a liberal, Pavlov welcomed the 1905 revolution, but he was not a supporter of the Bolsheviks. Nevertheless, his prominence on the international stage was significant enough that he was able to pursue his research and even travel abroad. In 1935, a year before his death, he organized and hosted the International Congress of Physiologists in Leningrad. A comprehensive, nuanced picture of Pavlov's life and times and his seminal contributions to science. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.