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Gabriel Finkelstein

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Gabriel Finkelstein (born 1963) is an historian of science and the biographer of Emil du Bois-Reymond, a German neuroscientist and public intellectual.[1][2] His research focuses on 19th-century exploration, biology, and historiography.[3]

Career

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After studying physics at Amherst College (B.A., 1985) and history at Princeton University (Ph.D., 1996), Finkelstein worked at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Göttingen, UCLA, and Princeton University before joining the University of Colorado Denver in 1999. He was promoted to Associate Professor of History in 2006.[4] In 2022 he visited the Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Université de Bordeaux, as a Fellow.[5]

The eight years that Finkelstein spent in France and Germany had a significant influence on his research.[6] His biography of Emil du Bois-Reymond received an Honorable Mention in the History of Science category of the American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE Awards), was named by the American Association for the Advancement of Science as one of the Best Books of 2014, and was shortlisted for the 2014 John Pickstone Prize, awarded biennially by the British Society for the History of Science and considered one of the most prestigious prizes for scholarly books in the field.[7][8] The biography has also been discussed by The Guardian,[9] The Scientist,[10] New Books Network,[11] Scientific American,[12][13] Il Sole 24 Oro,[14] and numerous blogs.[15][16][17]

Additionally, Finkelstein advised Hubert Sauper on his documentary film Darwin's Nightmare (2004), which was nominated for an Academy Award.[18]

Gabriel Finkelstein is the son of the neurologist Jack Finkelstein and the poet Caroline Finkelstein and nephew of the lawyer David I. Shapiro. His brother Adam Finkelstein breeds queen bees.

Publications (select)

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  • “Haeckel and du Bois-Reymond: Rival German Darwinists.” Theory in Biosciences 138, no. 1 (May 2019): 105–112.
  • Emil du Bois-Reymond: Neuroscience, Self, and Society in Nineteenth-Century Germany. Cambridge; London: The MIT Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4619-5032-5. OCLC 864592470
  • "Autorité rhétorique: Claude Bernard et Émile du Bois-Reymond." In Les élèves de Claude Bernard : Les nouvelles disciplines bernardiennes au tournant du XXe siècle, ed. Jean-Gäel Barbara and Pierre Corvol, 173–192. Paris: Éditions Hermann, 2012.
  • “Romanticism, Race, and Recapitulation.” Science 294, no. 5549 (7 December 2001): 2101–2102.
  • “‘Conquerors of the Künlün’? The Schlagintweit Mission to High Asia, 1854–57.” History of Science 38, pt. 2, no. 120 (June 2000): 179–218.

References

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  1. ^ Review by Anna Maria Echterhölter, University of Vienna from 2016, last accessed on March 4, 2025.
  2. ^ Finkelstein, Gabriel (2019-11-07). "The Greatest Unknown Intellectual of the 19th Century". The MIT Press Reader. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
  3. ^ "Gabriel Finkelstein". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
  4. ^ Curriculum Vitae Gabriel Finkelstein, University of Colorado Denver, last accessed March 4, 2025.
  5. ^ "Interview — Gabriel Finkelstein".
  6. ^ query=Gabriel+Finkelstein&type=publication Publications by Gabriel Finkelstein on www.researchgate.net, last accessed on March 4, 2025.
  7. ^ Appreciations of the biography on MIT Press, last accessed on March 4, 2025.
  8. ^ Aranda, George (2014-12-02). "British Society for the History of Science John Pickstone Prize Shortlist". Science Book a Day. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  9. ^ Higgitt, Rebekah (2014-11-17). "History of science books: Pickstone Prize shortlist announced". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  10. ^ "The Body Electric, 1840s". The Scientist. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  11. ^ "Podcast | Gabriel Finkelstein, "Emil du Bois-Reymond: Neuroscience,…". New Books Network. Archived from the original on 2023-12-10. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  12. ^ Horgan, John. "A Brief Correspondence on Copernicus, Descartes, Kant, Darwin, Freud, George Ellis and Thomas Nagel (among Others)". Scientific American. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  13. ^ Finkelstein, Gabriel. "The Greatest Unknown Intellectual of the 19th Century". Scientific American. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  14. ^ "Materia per la coscienza". Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  15. ^ Bohnet, Ilja (2022-10-12). "10 questions about motive for crime – today to Gabriel Finkelstein". Spannungsfeld. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  16. ^ Aranda, George (2015-03-02). "Science Book a Day Interviews Gabriel Finkelstein". Science Book a Day. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  17. ^ Belloir, Alban Belloir (1 April 2022). "Interview – Gabriel Finkelstein".
  18. ^ Darwin's Nightmare (2004) - IMDb. Retrieved 2025-03-11 – via www.imdb.com.
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