Medicine and Physiology
1309 Optics by al-Farisi
2018 SOLD for £ 550K including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2021
In antique times, scientific knowledge was transmitted through compilations, which the authors used to insert their own theories. Forgotten, quite wrongly, in Europe, this effective method was perpetuated elsewhere for fifteen centuries, mostly by Arab scholars.
Al-Shirazi was one of these polygraphs. Like Aristotle, he was interested in everything : mathematics, astronomy, geography, philosophy, medicine, theology, law, linguistics, rhetoric. He was also a chess player, a musician and even a humorist.
Al-Farisi, who was one of his pupils, was asked around 700 AH in Tabriz a question about the refraction of light. The master, who was not a specialist in optics, gave him access to a copy dated 419 AH of the Book of Optics by Alhacen, who demonstrated that vision is a brain phenomenon resulting from the reflection of light on the object. The eye is no more than the optical organ which transmits this information.
In compliance with the best tradition, al-Farisi's personal contribution is very important. He studies in great detail the internal geometry of the eye to understand the aberrations of vision created by refraction. He models the drop of water to study the propagation of the sun's ray in its complex sequence of refractions and reflections. He is the very first to interpret the rainbow mathematically and improves the theory of colors.
Al-Farisi's working manuscript, partially autograph, rigorously reproduces the list of chapters from The Optics of Alhacen. It was completed in 708 AH corresponding to 1309 CE, two years before the death of al-Shirazi.
A large part of this document was sold for £ 550K including premium by Sotheby's on April 25, 2018 from a lower estimate of £ 250K, lot 32. This set of 321 sheets 22 x 12 cm is illustrated with many figures in red ink. One of these is perhaps the oldest scientifically correct diagram of the internal structure of the eye.
Another section is held at the New York Public Library. It includes the colophons which show that this treatise had been in the hands of two very eminent Ottoman scholars.
Copies were made to transmit this knowledge. One of them, dated 899 AH, was sold for £ 110K including premium by Sotheby's on October 25, 2017, lot 23.
Al-Shirazi was one of these polygraphs. Like Aristotle, he was interested in everything : mathematics, astronomy, geography, philosophy, medicine, theology, law, linguistics, rhetoric. He was also a chess player, a musician and even a humorist.
Al-Farisi, who was one of his pupils, was asked around 700 AH in Tabriz a question about the refraction of light. The master, who was not a specialist in optics, gave him access to a copy dated 419 AH of the Book of Optics by Alhacen, who demonstrated that vision is a brain phenomenon resulting from the reflection of light on the object. The eye is no more than the optical organ which transmits this information.
In compliance with the best tradition, al-Farisi's personal contribution is very important. He studies in great detail the internal geometry of the eye to understand the aberrations of vision created by refraction. He models the drop of water to study the propagation of the sun's ray in its complex sequence of refractions and reflections. He is the very first to interpret the rainbow mathematically and improves the theory of colors.
Al-Farisi's working manuscript, partially autograph, rigorously reproduces the list of chapters from The Optics of Alhacen. It was completed in 708 AH corresponding to 1309 CE, two years before the death of al-Shirazi.
A large part of this document was sold for £ 550K including premium by Sotheby's on April 25, 2018 from a lower estimate of £ 250K, lot 32. This set of 321 sheets 22 x 12 cm is illustrated with many figures in red ink. One of these is perhaps the oldest scientifically correct diagram of the internal structure of the eye.
Another section is held at the New York Public Library. It includes the colophons which show that this treatise had been in the hands of two very eminent Ottoman scholars.
Copies were made to transmit this knowledge. One of them, dated 899 AH, was sold for £ 110K including premium by Sotheby's on October 25, 2017, lot 23.
#AuctionUpdate The earliest scientific drawing of a human eye? An early autograph copy of Al-Farisi's landmark work on optics (dated 1309 AD) sells for £549,000#MiddleEast pic.twitter.com/4P7Tv5QMjh
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) April 25, 2018
1543 De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Vesalius
1998 SOLD for $ 1.65M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2012 before the sale of another copy by Heritage (see below)
Andries van Wesel, who latinized his name as Andreas Vesalius, was one of the founders of modern science and one of the scientists whose work had the greatest impact on our civilization. He is the explorer of the human body.
Born to a family of doctors, he observed the decomposed corpses on the gibbet of Brussels, in front of his home. He early appreciated that only direct observation could lead to the relevant understanding.
Not only he refuted all the errors of Galen which had prevented the progress of medicine and surgery, but also he explained the reason why : in order not to defy the taboos of the Roman Empire, Galen had dissected monkeys. I give only one example among so many, but it is spectacular : analyzing breathing, Vesalius paves the way for life saving ventilation.
His drawings are plagiarized and challenged. Vesalius therefore decides that he must collect his observations and figures in a masterly work. After four years of preparation, De Humani Corporis 'libri septem' is published in Basel in folio format 43 x 28 cm in 1543. The anatomical drawings were prepared in Venice by an anonymous artist, probably from Titian's studio.
A copy owned by the Emperor Charles V, considered to be his dedication copy, was sold by Christie's on March 18, 1998 for $ 1.65M including premium from a lower estimate of $ 400K, lot 213. All illustrations including initials had been colored with highlights in liquid gold and silver.
I previously narrated two other copies in this column. One was sold for $ 122K including premium by Heritage on October 4, 2012, and the other for £ 255K including premium by Christie's on December 1, 2015.
Born to a family of doctors, he observed the decomposed corpses on the gibbet of Brussels, in front of his home. He early appreciated that only direct observation could lead to the relevant understanding.
Not only he refuted all the errors of Galen which had prevented the progress of medicine and surgery, but also he explained the reason why : in order not to defy the taboos of the Roman Empire, Galen had dissected monkeys. I give only one example among so many, but it is spectacular : analyzing breathing, Vesalius paves the way for life saving ventilation.
His drawings are plagiarized and challenged. Vesalius therefore decides that he must collect his observations and figures in a masterly work. After four years of preparation, De Humani Corporis 'libri septem' is published in Basel in folio format 43 x 28 cm in 1543. The anatomical drawings were prepared in Venice by an anonymous artist, probably from Titian's studio.
A copy owned by the Emperor Charles V, considered to be his dedication copy, was sold by Christie's on March 18, 1998 for $ 1.65M including premium from a lower estimate of $ 400K, lot 213. All illustrations including initials had been colored with highlights in liquid gold and silver.
I previously narrated two other copies in this column. One was sold for $ 122K including premium by Heritage on October 4, 2012, and the other for £ 255K including premium by Christie's on December 1, 2015.
1934 Liver and Anemia
2015 SOLD for $ 550K including premium
Medicine and pharmacy made significant progress by empirical experiments. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine highlights a long list of victories over previously incurable diseases. It was awarded in 1934 to Whipple, Minot and Murphy for their work on the diet of pernicious anemia.
The mechanism of the disease is not known when Whipple presumes that the liver has a role in it. He shows on dogs that the absorption of liver reverses the effects of an induced anemia. In 1926, Minot and Murphy use his results to prepare liver juice for patients showing syndromes of pernicious anemia. The disease is defeated.
The pharmaceutical story does not end at that point, fortunately. As early as 1928, another researcher who was not honored in the Nobel prize improved the diet by injecting liver extracts to the patient, avoiding him a daily swallow of a big quantity of liver food. In 1948, the cause of the pernicious anemia is identified as a deficiency of absorption by the intestine of a previously unidentified vitamin.
On September 21 in New York, Bonhams sells in one lot the Nobel medal and diploma awarded to George Minot along with various related documents, lot 46 estimated $ 200K.
One of these documents is particularly noteworthy. Minot suffered from a severe diabetes. He had been saved from death by the discovery of insulin in 1921. Frederick Banting wrote from Toronto to congratulate him on his Nobel and to comfort him by stating that good quality insulin is also available in Sweden.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Bonhams.
The mechanism of the disease is not known when Whipple presumes that the liver has a role in it. He shows on dogs that the absorption of liver reverses the effects of an induced anemia. In 1926, Minot and Murphy use his results to prepare liver juice for patients showing syndromes of pernicious anemia. The disease is defeated.
The pharmaceutical story does not end at that point, fortunately. As early as 1928, another researcher who was not honored in the Nobel prize improved the diet by injecting liver extracts to the patient, avoiding him a daily swallow of a big quantity of liver food. In 1948, the cause of the pernicious anemia is identified as a deficiency of absorption by the intestine of a previously unidentified vitamin.
On September 21 in New York, Bonhams sells in one lot the Nobel medal and diploma awarded to George Minot along with various related documents, lot 46 estimated $ 200K.
One of these documents is particularly noteworthy. Minot suffered from a severe diabetes. He had been saved from death by the discovery of insulin in 1921. Frederick Banting wrote from Toronto to congratulate him on his Nobel and to comfort him by stating that good quality insulin is also available in Sweden.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Bonhams.
1939-1941 Lou Gehrig Disease
2020 SOLD for $ 450K including premium by Christie's and Hunt
narrated in 2021
Few celebrities have given their name to the illness they were victims. From 1939 Lou Gehrig was suffering from Charcot's disease, an incurable multiple sclerosis. In a different field of activity, the quadriplegic physicist Stephen Hawking is another famous victim of this terrible disease.
Lou Gehrig had been the most exemplary of champions. He feels exhausted in the middle of the 1938 season. His arms and legs become weak but he continues. From 1923 until the fateful April 30, 1939, he played 2,130 consecutive games for the only team of his professional career, the New York Yankees. For the next game, it is he who presents the list of players to the umpires, without his name.
Medical testing in performed in June at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. The diagnosis is terrifying. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is incurable and the paralysis is progressive and inexorable. It is not contagious. Mental functions are not affected by this partial destruction of the brain. The champion's life expectancy is three years. He will not reach it.
Lou is courageous. On July 4, 1939 in the Yankee Stadium, the Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day is added to the Independence Day ceremonies. Lou delivers with extraordinary dignity in front of 62,000 spectators the most poignant speech in the history of sport : "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans ".
On December 16, 2020, Christie's in association with Hunt sold at lot 87 for $ 450K the letters exchanged by Gehrig throughout his final phase with Dr O'Leary of the Mayo Clinic : original letters sent by the champion and carbon copies of the doctor's answers. Lou remains lucid with a few bursts of hope and follows the considerations from the medical world about this pathology. He is informed of experiments on monkeys but fears being effeminated by injections of hormones.
Lou died on June 2, 1941, 17 days before his 38th birthday. In the United States, his disease is now named the Lou Gehrig Disease. He was not autopsied, and the cause and triggering factor have not been identified.
Lou Gehrig had been the most exemplary of champions. He feels exhausted in the middle of the 1938 season. His arms and legs become weak but he continues. From 1923 until the fateful April 30, 1939, he played 2,130 consecutive games for the only team of his professional career, the New York Yankees. For the next game, it is he who presents the list of players to the umpires, without his name.
Medical testing in performed in June at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. The diagnosis is terrifying. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is incurable and the paralysis is progressive and inexorable. It is not contagious. Mental functions are not affected by this partial destruction of the brain. The champion's life expectancy is three years. He will not reach it.
Lou is courageous. On July 4, 1939 in the Yankee Stadium, the Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day is added to the Independence Day ceremonies. Lou delivers with extraordinary dignity in front of 62,000 spectators the most poignant speech in the history of sport : "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans ".
On December 16, 2020, Christie's in association with Hunt sold at lot 87 for $ 450K the letters exchanged by Gehrig throughout his final phase with Dr O'Leary of the Mayo Clinic : original letters sent by the champion and carbon copies of the doctor's answers. Lou remains lucid with a few bursts of hope and follows the considerations from the medical world about this pathology. He is informed of experiments on monkeys but fears being effeminated by injections of hormones.
Lou died on June 2, 1941, 17 days before his 38th birthday. In the United States, his disease is now named the Lou Gehrig Disease. He was not autopsied, and the cause and triggering factor have not been identified.
1953 The Release of the Secret of Life
2013 SOLD 6.05 M$ including premium
The day after the announcement of the sale of Francis Crick's Nobel medal by Heritage, discussed yesterday in this column, Christie's issued a press release about an extraordinary document of the same origin, to be sold by them in New York on April 10.
Through a mathematical approach to X-Ray views that had been difficult to analyze, Crick and Watson built the model of the double helix of DNA. Copernicus had used a somehow similar method to raise the heliocentric hypothesis when seeking to simplify an apparently too complex data.
Very excited (as he told it), Crick could not keep the secret. The listener is well chosen: he explains with great foresight the result and its consequences in a seven-page handwritten letter dated 19 March 1953 to his son Michael then twelve years old, a college student out of home for his school time.
This first digest work of one of the greatest discoveries is signed Daddy. We see with great pleasure that this research was an actual team work honoring equally the two scientists, "Jim" Watson and Daddy. The schematic diagram of the double helix has a beautiful clarity.
On April 2, Watson and Crick submitted the first official text to the professional review Nature, which published it on April 25. The contrast is striking between the enthusiasm of Daddy's letter and the short and careful scientific release, not illustrated, soberly explaining that the fundamental breakthrough of the new theory is the relative position of the chemical elements in the molecule.
Their theory was right, and was soon validated by all biochemists in the world. Daddy's letter is a true treasure in the history of science, unparalleled except perhaps by some letters from Einstein. The estimate is quite open: $ 1M to 2M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This document is extraordinary and certainly unique. One of the most important discoveries of our time is announced in a letter to a child before being published in the specialized journals. Emotion takes its place alongside the scientific rigor.
This manuscript is recognized as one of the greatest releases in the history of science: $ 6.05 million including premium.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
Through a mathematical approach to X-Ray views that had been difficult to analyze, Crick and Watson built the model of the double helix of DNA. Copernicus had used a somehow similar method to raise the heliocentric hypothesis when seeking to simplify an apparently too complex data.
Very excited (as he told it), Crick could not keep the secret. The listener is well chosen: he explains with great foresight the result and its consequences in a seven-page handwritten letter dated 19 March 1953 to his son Michael then twelve years old, a college student out of home for his school time.
This first digest work of one of the greatest discoveries is signed Daddy. We see with great pleasure that this research was an actual team work honoring equally the two scientists, "Jim" Watson and Daddy. The schematic diagram of the double helix has a beautiful clarity.
On April 2, Watson and Crick submitted the first official text to the professional review Nature, which published it on April 25. The contrast is striking between the enthusiasm of Daddy's letter and the short and careful scientific release, not illustrated, soberly explaining that the fundamental breakthrough of the new theory is the relative position of the chemical elements in the molecule.
Their theory was right, and was soon validated by all biochemists in the world. Daddy's letter is a true treasure in the history of science, unparalleled except perhaps by some letters from Einstein. The estimate is quite open: $ 1M to 2M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This document is extraordinary and certainly unique. One of the most important discoveries of our time is announced in a letter to a child before being published in the specialized journals. Emotion takes its place alongside the scientific rigor.
This manuscript is recognized as one of the greatest releases in the history of science: $ 6.05 million including premium.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
1953 An Engine within the Cell
2015 SOLD for £ 275K including premium
2016 UNSOLD
PRE 2016 SALE DISCUSSION
The discovery of the citric acid cycle by Hans Krebs was one of the most significant breakthrough in life sciences.
His Nobel medal and diploma housed in the original gilt printed case were sold for £ 275K including premium by Sotheby's on 14 July 2015, lot 56. This set is now offered by Nate D. Sanders in a timed online auction ending on April 28 with a minimum bid at $ 550K, lot 1.
I narrated this story as follows in 2015 :
Hans Adolf Krebs analyzed the chemical mechanism of production of energy from food and was awarded in 1953 for this discovery the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Lipmann.
By analyzing the urea in 1932, Krebs had already appreciated that the main mechanisms that support life are cycles. The citric acid cycle or Krebs cycle, published by him in 1937, explains life.
Lipids, carbohydrates and amino acids that constitute the food are chemically broken before triggering successively ten catalyzed chemical reactions within the cell, producing the energy that activates the respiration. It is a cycle because the last chemical reaction recreates the molecule that receives the organic substances in the cell. The process is endless as far as the animal injects food.
The Krebs cycle applies to all living beings including bacteria and appeared when the level of oxygen increased on Earth two billion years ago.
Hans Adolf Krebs was a Jew. Expelled from Germany by the Nazis in 1933, he was highly welcomed in England and is considered a British scientist, naturalized in 1939.
His Nobel Prize was sold in 2015 by Sotheby's for the benefit of The Sir Hans Krebs Trust, a newly created charity endeavoring to support researchers in biology or medicine prevented by persecution to work in their home country.
The discovery of the citric acid cycle by Hans Krebs was one of the most significant breakthrough in life sciences.
His Nobel medal and diploma housed in the original gilt printed case were sold for £ 275K including premium by Sotheby's on 14 July 2015, lot 56. This set is now offered by Nate D. Sanders in a timed online auction ending on April 28 with a minimum bid at $ 550K, lot 1.
I narrated this story as follows in 2015 :
Hans Adolf Krebs analyzed the chemical mechanism of production of energy from food and was awarded in 1953 for this discovery the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Lipmann.
By analyzing the urea in 1932, Krebs had already appreciated that the main mechanisms that support life are cycles. The citric acid cycle or Krebs cycle, published by him in 1937, explains life.
Lipids, carbohydrates and amino acids that constitute the food are chemically broken before triggering successively ten catalyzed chemical reactions within the cell, producing the energy that activates the respiration. It is a cycle because the last chemical reaction recreates the molecule that receives the organic substances in the cell. The process is endless as far as the animal injects food.
The Krebs cycle applies to all living beings including bacteria and appeared when the level of oxygen increased on Earth two billion years ago.
Hans Adolf Krebs was a Jew. Expelled from Germany by the Nazis in 1933, he was highly welcomed in England and is considered a British scientist, naturalized in 1939.
His Nobel Prize was sold in 2015 by Sotheby's for the benefit of The Sir Hans Krebs Trust, a newly created charity endeavoring to support researchers in biology or medicine prevented by persecution to work in their home country.
1962 The Invention of the Molecular Biology
2014 SOLD for $ 4.8M including premium
The birth of molecular biology is the result of a multidisciplinary cooperation between chemists, physicists and biologists. The existence of nucleic acids in the cell nuclei had been identified in the nineteenth century. From 1939, advances in micro-radiography X gave hope to understand the structure of these molecules.
Scientists had identified two types of acids, RNA (ribonucleic acid) in the cytoplasm of the cell and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in the chromosomes. They appreciated that these acids held the key to the functioning of life.
Two British laboratories of crystallography worked collaboratively. Francis Crick, assisted by the young US doctor James D. Watson, was at Cambridge. In London, Maurice Wilkins was assisted by Rosalind Franklin who perfected the techniques of observation and realized the radiograms. The untimely cancer of Rosalind Franklin is probably due to an excess of radiation dose.
The single helix of RNA structure and the two strands of DNA were among the first discoveries. In 1953, Watson understood that the shapes of the elements of the two DNA strands were identical although these elements were different. Crick and Watson immediately developed the model of the double helix, which was the biggest breakthrough of all time in the field of life sciences.
The letter written by Crick to his young son showed that he was aware of the importance of the discovery. It was sold for $ 6,05M including premium by Christie's on April 10, 2013.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Crick, Watson and Wilkins in 1962. Crick's Nobel medal and diploma were sold as a single lot for $ 2,27M including premium by Heritage on April 11, 2013.
Watson, now 86 years old, entrusted Christie's to sell his Nobel memories, offered in three lots on December 4 in New York. The Nobel medal with its case is estimated $ 2.5M, lot 1. His handwritten notes for the acceptance speech are estimated $ 300K,lot 2.
The manuscript of his Nobel lecture on the role of RNA in protein synthesis is estimated $ 200K, lot 3. Less than ten years after the discovery of the double helix, this theme highlighted the fact that the physicochemical mechanisms of life were already fully explained.
A portion of the proceeds from the sales will be donated by Dr. Watson to the benefit of scientific research and charities.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
medal : $ 4.8M
speech : $ 365K
lecture : $ 245K
Scientists had identified two types of acids, RNA (ribonucleic acid) in the cytoplasm of the cell and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in the chromosomes. They appreciated that these acids held the key to the functioning of life.
Two British laboratories of crystallography worked collaboratively. Francis Crick, assisted by the young US doctor James D. Watson, was at Cambridge. In London, Maurice Wilkins was assisted by Rosalind Franklin who perfected the techniques of observation and realized the radiograms. The untimely cancer of Rosalind Franklin is probably due to an excess of radiation dose.
The single helix of RNA structure and the two strands of DNA were among the first discoveries. In 1953, Watson understood that the shapes of the elements of the two DNA strands were identical although these elements were different. Crick and Watson immediately developed the model of the double helix, which was the biggest breakthrough of all time in the field of life sciences.
The letter written by Crick to his young son showed that he was aware of the importance of the discovery. It was sold for $ 6,05M including premium by Christie's on April 10, 2013.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Crick, Watson and Wilkins in 1962. Crick's Nobel medal and diploma were sold as a single lot for $ 2,27M including premium by Heritage on April 11, 2013.
Watson, now 86 years old, entrusted Christie's to sell his Nobel memories, offered in three lots on December 4 in New York. The Nobel medal with its case is estimated $ 2.5M, lot 1. His handwritten notes for the acceptance speech are estimated $ 300K,lot 2.
The manuscript of his Nobel lecture on the role of RNA in protein synthesis is estimated $ 200K, lot 3. Less than ten years after the discovery of the double helix, this theme highlighted the fact that the physicochemical mechanisms of life were already fully explained.
A portion of the proceeds from the sales will be donated by Dr. Watson to the benefit of scientific research and charities.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
medal : $ 4.8M
speech : $ 365K
lecture : $ 245K
1962 Award for the Double Helix
2013 SOLD 2.27 M$ including premium
The progress in the crystallographic analyses of molecules enabled the greatest scientific discovery of the last century. In 1953, by inspecting the X-ray photographs of components of biological cells, two researchers at Cambridge, England, built the double helix model of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Both strands of the helix are connected by regularly spaced links which are always constituted by a pair of chains in two couples of possibilities. When the strands are disjoined, the helix is restructured with organic matter for the creation of the second strand of a new double helix with the same genetic message as the original DNA molecule.
Crick and Watson knew immediately that they had found the secret of the transmission of information in biological material. With this key, molecular biology soon became a major science, leading to understand cell differentiation and biodiversity.
In 1962, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Crick, Watson and Wilkins. The Nobel gold medal and diploma attributed to Francis HC Crick are presented in a single lot, estimated $ 500K, in the sale organized by Heritage in New York on 10 and 11 April. Here is the link to the catalog.
Before Crick and Watson, no geometer, no artist had imagined this compact and steady structure.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 2.27 million including premium, exceeds all expectations. It was impossible to really estimate it prior to the sale because of the scarcity of Nobel medals on the market and of the importance of the scientific work rewarded by this one.
The price recorded the day before by Christie's on the letter of the scientist to his son, $ 6.05M including premium, also certainly had a positive effect on this lot.
Both strands of the helix are connected by regularly spaced links which are always constituted by a pair of chains in two couples of possibilities. When the strands are disjoined, the helix is restructured with organic matter for the creation of the second strand of a new double helix with the same genetic message as the original DNA molecule.
Crick and Watson knew immediately that they had found the secret of the transmission of information in biological material. With this key, molecular biology soon became a major science, leading to understand cell differentiation and biodiversity.
In 1962, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Crick, Watson and Wilkins. The Nobel gold medal and diploma attributed to Francis HC Crick are presented in a single lot, estimated $ 500K, in the sale organized by Heritage in New York on 10 and 11 April. Here is the link to the catalog.
Before Crick and Watson, no geometer, no artist had imagined this compact and steady structure.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 2.27 million including premium, exceeds all expectations. It was impossible to really estimate it prior to the sale because of the scarcity of Nobel medals on the market and of the importance of the scientific work rewarded by this one.
The price recorded the day before by Christie's on the letter of the scientist to his son, $ 6.05M including premium, also certainly had a positive effect on this lot.
1963 The Nerves of the Squid
2015 SOLD for $ 800K including premium
The knowledge of the physico-chemical functioning of life made its breakthroughs in the mid-twentieth century helped of course by the X-rays but also by the improvement of electricity and electronics.
Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley are biophysicists and more exactly electrophysiologists. The new technique of the voltage clamp allows them to measure the electric signal across the membrane of a nerve cell.
The sciatic nerve of the frog did not allow measurements in a sufficient accuracy. Working in association with the marine biology laboratory of Plymouth in England, they use in their experiments the largest known axon in the animal reign, measuring 1 mm in diameter, used by the squid to elicit a quick reaction to a threat.
The two researchers can then model the electrical behavior of the neuron. This fruitful advance will have a considerable impact on the knowledge and healing of several nerve diseases and will enable to raise a model of the transmission of nerve inputs to the muscular system. The existence of ion channels in cell membranes will be confirmed by others much later, completing the description of the nervous cell.
Hodgkin and Huxley shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with John Eccles. The Nobel medal awarded to Hodgkin will be sold with various documents including a copy of the scientific publication associated with the prize as lot 1 in an online timed auction ending on October 29. The minimum bid is $ 450K.
The auction house, Nate D. Sanders, is based in Los Angeles. It is gradually becoming a leader in the growing market for Nobel medals, with successful sales reminded below.
The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences of Kuznets (1971) was sold for $ 390K on 26 February 2015. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry of Wieland (1927) was sold for $ 395K on 30 April 2015. The Nobel Prize in Physics of Lederman (1988) was sold for $ 765K on 28 May 2015. These prices include the premium.
Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley are biophysicists and more exactly electrophysiologists. The new technique of the voltage clamp allows them to measure the electric signal across the membrane of a nerve cell.
The sciatic nerve of the frog did not allow measurements in a sufficient accuracy. Working in association with the marine biology laboratory of Plymouth in England, they use in their experiments the largest known axon in the animal reign, measuring 1 mm in diameter, used by the squid to elicit a quick reaction to a threat.
The two researchers can then model the electrical behavior of the neuron. This fruitful advance will have a considerable impact on the knowledge and healing of several nerve diseases and will enable to raise a model of the transmission of nerve inputs to the muscular system. The existence of ion channels in cell membranes will be confirmed by others much later, completing the description of the nervous cell.
Hodgkin and Huxley shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with John Eccles. The Nobel medal awarded to Hodgkin will be sold with various documents including a copy of the scientific publication associated with the prize as lot 1 in an online timed auction ending on October 29. The minimum bid is $ 450K.
The auction house, Nate D. Sanders, is based in Los Angeles. It is gradually becoming a leader in the growing market for Nobel medals, with successful sales reminded below.
The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences of Kuznets (1971) was sold for $ 390K on 26 February 2015. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry of Wieland (1927) was sold for $ 395K on 30 April 2015. The Nobel Prize in Physics of Lederman (1988) was sold for $ 765K on 28 May 2015. These prices include the premium.
1993 DNA in Vitro
2016 SOLD for $ 670K including premium
Life exists because the chains of the DNA molecule have the capability to replicate. The discovery of the double helix structure by the team of crystallographers of Crick and Watson in 1953 was followed as early as 1956 by the discovery of the catalyst by a biochemist, Kornberg.
The molecular phenomena are too small to be studied individually but the challenge is immense. Genetic defects or viral attacks would be best countered if their mechanisms were modeled on the scale of the chain sequence.
The early tests for the replication in vitro of complete DNA sequences are discouraging by their processing time and their low yield. Chemists take control in their turn of that problem. In 1982, a publication by Dr. Kary Mullis working for Cetus company provides the solution, identified as PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction).
Once the chain carrying the property to be analyzed is isolated, it is put in the presence of a nourishing primer and subjected to successive cycles of heating and cooling. The reaction is fast and the population growth is exponential. The invention of Mullis is intuitive. His great merit is to have proved the correctness of his concept by developing the appropriate machine. The impact on genetic engineering is immediate.
Mullis received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with the biochemist Michael Smith.
On February 14 in Pasadena, Bonhams sells in one lot the Nobel medal of Dr. Mullis along with his Nobel diploma, a copy of his lecture and several other documents. He is only the third Nobel winner to sell his own medal at auction, and much younger than Watson and Lederman. This set is estimated $ 450K, lot 93.
I invite you to watch the interview of Dr. Mullis by Bonhams before the preparation of the sale.
The molecular phenomena are too small to be studied individually but the challenge is immense. Genetic defects or viral attacks would be best countered if their mechanisms were modeled on the scale of the chain sequence.
The early tests for the replication in vitro of complete DNA sequences are discouraging by their processing time and their low yield. Chemists take control in their turn of that problem. In 1982, a publication by Dr. Kary Mullis working for Cetus company provides the solution, identified as PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction).
Once the chain carrying the property to be analyzed is isolated, it is put in the presence of a nourishing primer and subjected to successive cycles of heating and cooling. The reaction is fast and the population growth is exponential. The invention of Mullis is intuitive. His great merit is to have proved the correctness of his concept by developing the appropriate machine. The impact on genetic engineering is immediate.
Mullis received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with the biochemist Michael Smith.
On February 14 in Pasadena, Bonhams sells in one lot the Nobel medal of Dr. Mullis along with his Nobel diploma, a copy of his lecture and several other documents. He is only the third Nobel winner to sell his own medal at auction, and much younger than Watson and Lederman. This set is estimated $ 450K, lot 93.
I invite you to watch the interview of Dr. Mullis by Bonhams before the preparation of the sale.
