The Assyro-Babylonian Scapegoat Controversy

The Babylonian benefit

E nter any research laboratory and you will most likely find an almost Babylonian confusion: French researchers discussing their experiments in French, but quickly switching to English when joined by their Chinese colleague. A German researcher may answer the phone in German while talking to a Spanish colleague in English. English is the de facto lingua franca of science: of research papers, gr...

Limitations of the scapegoat theory of prejudice.

Babylonian resistor networks

The ancient Babylonians had an iterative technique for numerically approximating the values of square roots. Their method can be physically implemented using series and parallel resistor networks. A recursive formula for the equivalent resistance Req is developed and converted into a nonrecursive solution for circuits using geometrically increasing numbers of identical resistors. As an example,...

Babylonian and Indian Astronomy: Early Connections

Did the Indian and Babylonian astronomy evolve in isolation, was there mutual influence, or was one dependent on the other? Scholars have debated these questions for more than two centuries, and opinion has swung one way or the other with time. The similarities between the two systems that have been investigated are: the use of 30 divisions of the lunar month; the 360 divisions of the civil yea...

Sodium bisulfite: scapegoat for chloroprocaine neurotoxicity?

BACKGROUND Neurologic deficits after apparent intrathecal injection of 3% Nesacaine-CE intended for epidural administration created concern about the potential toxicity of chloroprocaine and the preservative sodium bisulfite. Although bisulfite-free formulations of chloroprocaine were subsequently introduced into clinical practice, the relative toxicities of this anesthetic and preservative wer...