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> we contacted a medical doctor via email who confirmed it was indeed them who inserted “Baum’s loop” as an eponym into the Wikipedia article (personal communic

> we contacted a medical doctor via email who confirmed it was indeed them who inserted “Baum’s loop” as an eponym into the Wikipedia article (personal communication: A. Baum, 21 May 2020). So, a physician gave a part of the anatomy their name, and "from there propagated into the wider medical literature." But I wonder: was there any rationale or did they just decide to name it after themselves without having discovered this anatomy or its function?

TheJoeMan 4y ago
Discoveries are usually named after the "last" person to discover them, not the first. See: "Americas". Sometimes the first and last discoverer is the same.
- wyldfire 4y ago
  Vespucci was an explorer but more importantly - a cartographer. Much like clever Dr Baum, it wasn't so much a discovery as a usurpation. Indigenous humans didn't discover the Americas, they were just here already. And they had name(s) for the regions they inhabited. But if they hadn't done inter-continental travel they may not have decided to name the continents. Regardless of whether they gave the continents names, the names we use today became popular and they're now the convention. It's worth mentioning that many place names in this hemisphere are based on the corresponding name from the indigenous people. Moral of the story - if you want a lasting legacy, don't invest your time in making discoveries, invest your time in taxonomy/toponomy.
mannykannot 4y ago
The article, and the current Wikipedia article, are careful to stick to the facts: "Note: In 2009, an anonymous medical doctor edited the 'Optic Radiation' Wikipedia article and added the eponymous name 'Baum's loop,' referring to the dorsal bundle. Despite the information being unverified, this name subsequently entered scholarly articles and textbooks and persisted until three radiologists discovered the fabrication in 2020." We are being invited to draw our own conclusions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_radiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_radiation
- userbinator 4y ago
  It's worth noting that "Fibers from the inferior retina" have already been named "Mayer's loop" or "Archambault's loop", while "Fibers from the superior retina" haven't, so perhaps he decided to give the other one a name (his own) upon realising that.
- DebtDeflation 4y ago
  The bigger take away is that "scholarly articles and textbooks" in the field of Medicine are sourcing their information from Wikipedia.
- aaroninsf 4y ago
  "Fabrication" is sure doing some heavy lifting in classic passive-aggressive Wikipedia editorspeak.
deleted 4y ago
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joseph_grobbles 4y ago
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TheJoeMan 4y ago

Discoveries are usually named after the "last" person to discover them, not the first. See: "Americas". Sometimes the first and last discoverer is the same.

wyldfire 4y ago
Vespucci was an explorer but more importantly - a cartographer. Much like clever Dr Baum, it wasn't so much a discovery as a usurpation. Indigenous humans didn't discover the Americas, they were just here already. And they had name(s) for the regions they inhabited. But if they hadn't done inter-continental travel they may not have decided to name the continents. Regardless of whether they gave the continents names, the names we use today became popular and they're now the convention. It's worth mentioning that many place names in this hemisphere are based on the corresponding name from the indigenous people. Moral of the story - if you want a lasting legacy, don't invest your time in making discoveries, invest your time in taxonomy/toponomy.

mannykannot 4y ago

The article, and the current Wikipedia article, are careful to stick to the facts: "Note: In 2009, an anonymous medical doctor edited the 'Optic Radiation' Wikipedia article and added the eponymous name 'Baum's loop,' referring to the dorsal bundle. Despite the information being unverified, this name subsequently entered scholarly articles and textbooks and persisted until three radiologists discovered the fabrication in 2020." We are being invited to draw our own conclusions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_radiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_radiation

userbinator 4y ago
It's worth noting that "Fibers from the inferior retina" have already been named "Mayer's loop" or "Archambault's loop", while "Fibers from the superior retina" haven't, so perhaps he decided to give the other one a name (his own) upon realising that.
DebtDeflation 4y ago
The bigger take away is that "scholarly articles and textbooks" in the field of Medicine are sourcing their information from Wikipedia.
aaroninsf 4y ago
"Fabrication" is sure doing some heavy lifting in classic passive-aggressive Wikipedia editorspeak.

deleted 4y ago

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joseph_grobbles 4y ago

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