Die Einwirkung kosmischer Einflüsse auf die physiologischen Verhältnisse. Offprint from: Skandinavisches Archiv für Physiologie, Band 8, 1898. INSCRIBED BY ARRHENIUS

ARRHENIUS, Svante August

Publication Date: 1898

About this Item

First edition, very rare inscribed offprint. "In 1898 Arrhenius wrote a remarkable paper on the action of cosmic influence on physiological processes" (DSB). "In 1898 Arrhenius branched out into physiology, trying to demonstrate the influence of the lunar month on mortality, birth rates and menstruation. Statistics on about 30,000 male and female deaths collected by the Municipal Department of Health of Stockholm from 1883 to 1896 showed no regular fluctuations. He discovered a slight periodicity with respect to birth rates, again following the lunar month, in a population of 13,000 men and 11,000 women. This gave him the idea that these fluctuations might depend on the onset of menses. He collected statistics from the maternity wards of three Stockholm hospitals on the dates of the last menses before pregnancy of 10,416 women. Here he was at last able to establish the influence of a periodicity that was twice as prominent as that of birth rates. He found congruence between fluctuations in onset of menses and the twenty-six-day cycle he had established for atmospheric electricity. He surmised that this covariation was due to the higher voltage having an effect on the chemistry of the human organism, but he could not be more specific about the mechanism involved. In recent times, the phase locking of lunar and menstrual cycles has been confirmed using more rigorous methods than those used by Arrhenius" (Crawford, Arrhenius: From Ionic Theory to the Greenhouse Effect, p. 138). Arrhenius won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1903 "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered to the advancement of chemistry by his electrolytic theory of dissociation." He is also credited with the first quantitative analysis of carbonic acid (carbon dioxide) and its role in climate change. 8vo, pp. 367-416 with one folding lithographed plate. Original printed wrappers (a few small chips to edges of wrappers).

Seller Inventory # ABE-1485715372720

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Die Einwirkung kosmischer Einflüsse auf die physiologischen Verhältnisse. Offprint from: Skandinavisches Archiv für Physiologie, Band 8, 1898. INSCRIBED BY ARRHENIUS
• Publication Date: 1898
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good