01/2005

Academic bulletin 01/2005

EDITORIAL
Three minutes of silence in memory of the victims of the Asian tsunami were held in the Czech Republic and in all member states of the EU. All public buildings were to fly the national flag at half mast on Wednesday January 5, 2005.

EVENT OF THE MONTH
The Descartes Prizes 2004
On the occasion of the Descartes Prizes Ceremony organized by the European Commission and in partnership with the ASCR screenings of the Descartes Research Prize and Descartes Communication Prize films and debates took place in the Auditorium of the ASCR. EU Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potočnik awarded EU Descartes Prize for outstanding cross-border research to two panEuropean teams, in the field of life sciences and physics. The Descartes Prize for Science Communication rewarded five personalities for their exceptional role in bringing science and technology to wider audiences in Europe. The award ceremony took place in the magnificent historical setting of Prague Castle.

POPULARIZATION
Science and Technology Week 2004 in Numbers
Week 2004 was organized at the same time as the European Science Week in the Czech Republic for the second time. You can read about it at the last issue of the Akademický bulletin.

INTERVIEW
Torsten Wiesel and Evolvement of the Visual Cortex
Swedish biologist Torsten N. Wiesel from Rockefeller University in New York visited the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Experts and public were able to hear about the latest progress of different factors in the research affecting the evolvement of the visual cortex.

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
Conference of historiographers in Wroclaw
An international conference Between Forced Friendship and True Solidarity: Czechs – Poles – Slovaks 1938/39–1945–1989 took place in Wroclaw in Poland in November 2004.

Science and Army – Science and War:(1914–2004)
An international conference organized by the Masaryk Institute ASCR and the University of Defence (Brno) took place in Prague.

An Unique Instrument Attracts
A new pavilion U was opened at the area of medicine institutes ASCR at Krč in Prague. A new unique mass spectrometer, the best one in Europe, was installed there to help Czech science and the healh services analyze very complicated organic material.

NEWS FROM THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL
Report on the 54th session of the Academic Council of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
Summary of the 197th session of the Research and Development Council, an advisory body to the Government of the Czech Republic.

SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES Society for History of Sciences and Technology
The Society is devoted to the history of exact and natural sciences and technical disciplines but it does not avoid social sciences, humanities and the philosophy of science.

PORTRAITS FROM THE ARCHIVES
Karel Kadlec (1865–1928)
Karel Kadlec was not among the first jurists researching Slavonic justice but he was the first one who was able to compare realized facts. He followed a line of investigation to non-Slavonic justice, especially Hungarian justice.

AWARDS to leading Czech scientists

CULTURE AND THE SOCIETY
Astonishment or Wracks and Blue-greens
The exhibition Wracks, Blue-greens and Water-blooms in our Water-basins took place at the Academia bookshop at Wenceslas square in Prague. Colour photography of micro organisms taken by Petr Znachor attracted many visitors to this unrecognized world.

Windstorm in the Tatras
Tragedy struck on Black Friday the 19th of November 2004 when a windstorm swept across the High Tatras and over 100 square kilometres of the forest was broken. Fallen trees damaged buildings, electric lines and interrupted the traffic. High Tatras South-facing slopes have been changed out of all recognition.

ACADEMIA Specialized book from Academia Publishing House

RESUME

NEW BOOKS