Speleology meteorology and cartography to develop portraits of caves as complex, evolving systems. Prior to the mid-nineteenth century the scientific value of caves was considered only in its contribution to other branches of science, and cave studies were considered part of the larger disciplines of geography, geology or archaeology. Very little cave-specific study was undertaken prior to the work of Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859–1938), the 'father of modern speleology', who through his extensive and well-publicised cave explorations introduced in France the concept of speleology as a distinct area of study. In 1895 Martel founded the Société de Spéléologie, the first organization devoted
The Gothenburg Study of Children with DAMP The Gothenburg Study of Children with DAMP The Gothenburg Study of Children with DAMP was a study of six-year-old children in Gothenburg, Sweden that began in 1977. The purpose was to find out what proportion of the children had Deficits in Attention, Motor control and Perception (DAMP), formerly known as Minimal Brain Disorder (MBD), and to follow the development of that group over the years. The results and discussions have been published in four dissertations and approximately 30 scientific papers. The first phase of the study was designed mainly by Christopher Gillberg and Peder Rasmussen. Initially, preschool teachers in all