Membranous Things: An Archeology of the Nerve Cell, 1920-1960

The project concerns a material history of the excitable cell in the 20th century. Its central aim is to show that this cell was not only central to shaping biological science in the 20th century, but also that it can be encountered at very mundane, unexpected and indeed, unbiological, places: the cellular life whose history this project unearthed was mediated by a fabric that was not living, organic and natural, but fabricated, processed, made-up and hence, known, controlled and transparent: things - ersatz-objects - ranging from soap films to electrical circuits to calculation machines.

Links: 

http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/workshops/en/Membranes-Surfaces-Boundaries.html Workshop on Membranes, Surfaces, Boundaries

Events:

Workshop “Membranes, Surfaces, Boundaries: Interstices in the History of Science, Technology and Culture” (co-organizer, with Mathias Grote (Exeter) and Laura Otis (Emory)),
7-9 October 2010, MPIWG Berlin.

Exhibition (to accompany workshop): “ s u r f a c e e x p l o r a t i o n s ,”
8 October - 4 November, Aedes-Galerie, Berlin.