Finkelstein recognized for a best book of 2014

A biography by Gabriel Finkelstein, CU Denver associate professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, recently was selected as a Best Book of 2014 by Science Books and Films (SB&F).

The book, “Emil du Bois-Reymond: Neuroscience, Self, and Society in Nineteenth-Century Germany,”  was named a finalist for the inaugural Pickstone Prize (best book in the field) from the British Society for the History of Science. Also last year, the book received an Honorable Mention for History of Science at the PROSE Awards (The American Publishers Association Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence).

Considered the founder of electrophysiology, du Bois-Reymond (1818-1896) reformed the teaching of medicine, popularized the conservation of energy, advocated Darwin’s theories, and identified the scientific problem of consciousness. His writings also influenced the development of pragmatism, psychoanalysis, logical positivism and computer science.

Finkelstein’s book, the first scholarly biography of du Bois-Reymond, is the result of two decades of archival research.

SB&F is a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science.