The Seminal Event

 From Miriam Webster on line:

Definition of SEMINAL

1: of, relating to, or consisting of seed or semen

2: containing or contributing the seeds of later development : creative, original <a seminal book>

— sem·i·nal·ly adverb

Examples of SEMINAL

1. Kandel was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2000 for his seminal observation that it was in the action of the synapses between cells that memory existed, not in the cells themselves, and that a molecule called cyclic AMP was what allowed cells to retain memory over the long term. —Michael Greenberg, New York Review of Books

Origin of SEMINAL

Middle English, from Latin seminalis, from semin-, semen seed

First Known Use: 14th century

Seminal. What a strange word I thought never having heard it used in a context other than related to SEMEN. That is, until the Chief would pronounce with great fanfare that a certain discovery, break-through, or insight into an area of Medicine was "seminal".  By context I figured out that anytime he used the word it was listen-up time, a pearl of medical history and worthy of knowing because almost certainly he would ask about whatever he was describing again. We'd be expected to know the exact nature of the seminal event in question. He was doggedly determined to extend to us more than the raw facts. We needed to know the history and origins.

One of his favorite seminal events was the discovery by Banting and Best. that lack of insulin was the cause of  diabetes and replacement of same could restore blood sugar to normal. The link is worth reading since Best was skipped over in the awarding of the Nobel Prize for this amazing research. As pupils of the Chief, we heard the story many times.

As I write this, I'm taking a jaundiced look at the term "seminal" to describe such pivotal discoveries. Why are they not just a well insights of "ovarian force"? Back in the day, I never gave it a moment's thought.