Science, History and Social Activism: A Tribute to Everett Mendelsohn

395 Pages·2001·9.16 MB·English

by  Garland E. Allen

SCIENCE, HISTORY AND SOCIAL ACTIVISM
A TRIBUTE TO EVERETT MENDELSOHN
BOSTON STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Editors
ROBERTS. COHEN, Boston University
JURGEN RENN, Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science
KOSTAS GAVROGLU, University of Athens
Editorial Advisory Board
THOMAS F. GLICK, Boston University
ADOLF GRUNBAUM, University of Pittsburgh
SYLVAN S. SCHWEBER, Brandeis University
JOHN J. STACHEL, Boston University
MARX W. WARTOFSKYt (Editor 1960-1997)
VOLUME228
SCIENCE, HISTORY AND
SOCIAL ACTIVISM
A TRIBUTE TO EVERETT
MENDELSOHN
Edited by
GARLAND E. ALLEN
Washington University, St. Louis, U.S.A.
and
ROY M. MacLEOD
University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-90-481-5968-0 ISBN 978-94-017-2956-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-2956-7
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2001
No part of this publication may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permis sion from the copyright owner.
Everett Mendelsohn, 1997. Photograph by Martha Stewart
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ix
GARLAND E. ALLEN and ROY M. MacLEOD I Introduction
I. Historical Studies in the Life Sciences and Society
JANE MAIENSCHEIN I Advocating the History of Science 23
SHIRLEY ROE I Radical Nature in the Encyclopedie 37
FREDERICK B. CHURCHILL I August Weismann and Ferdinand
Dickel: Testing the Dzierzon System 61
RAPHAEL FALK I Mendel's Hypothesis 77
LILY E. KAYt I Biopower: Reflections on the Rise of Molecular
Biology 87
II. Perspectives on the Social Studies of Science
ANNE HARRINGTON I China, "Qi," and the Challenges of Engaged
Scholarship 105
HELGA NOWOTNY I How to Tell A Story in the Sciences: Settings
and Lessons 123
PETER BUCK I A Healthy Regard for the Facts 137
JEAN-JACQUES SALOMON I The Dark Side of Progress 153
PETER WEINGART I The Loss of Distance: Science in Transition 167
GARLAND E. ALLEN I Radical Politics and Marxism in the
History of Science 185
GARY WERSKEY I "The Social Context of Science": Social Sciences as
a Way of Life and Learning 203
vii
Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS
III: Science, Society and the Social Responsibility of Scientists
MARK V. BARROW, Jr. I Naturalists as Conservationists: American
Scientists, Social Responsibility, and Political Activism before
the Bomb 217
ROBERT N. PROCTOR I Human Experimental Abuse, in and out
of Context 235
MARK B. ADAMS I Networks in Action: The Khrushchev Era, the
Cold War and the Transformation of Soviet Science 255
GILBERT F. WHITTEMORE I The Multidimensional Chess of
Science and Society: A Postwar Debate over Plutonium Exposure 277
ELIZABETH S. WATKINS I Radioactive Fallout and Emerging
Environmentalism: Cold War Fears and Public Health Concerns,
1954-1963 291
ROY MacLEOD I "Strictly for the Birds": Science, the Military and
the Smithsonian's Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program,
1963-1970 307
MICHAEL A. FORT UN I The Human Genome Project: Past, Present
and Future Anterior 339
IV. Postscript: Everett Mendelsohn and the Middle East
YARON EZRAHI I "Speaking Justice to Power: Everett Mendelsohn
as an International Public Intellectual 365
Bibliography: The Published Writings of Everett Mendelsohn 369
Notes on Contributors 375
Index 383
PREFACE
"To earn a degree, every doctoral candidate should go out to Harvard Square,
find an audience, and explain his [or her] dissertation". Everett Mendelsohn's
worldly advice to successive generations of students, whether apocryphal or
real, has for over forty years spoken both to the essence of his scholarship, and
to the role of the scholar. Possibly no one has done more to establish the history
of the life sciences as a recognized university discipline in the United States,
and to inspire a critical concern for the ways in which science and technology
operate as central features of Western society. This book is both an act of
homage and of commemoration to Professor Mendelsohn on his 70th birthday.
As befits its subject, the work it presents is original, comparative, wide-ranging,
and new.
Since 1960, Everett Mendelsohn has been identified with Harvard Univer
sity, and with its Department of the History of Science. Those that know him as
a teacher, will also know him as a scholar. In 1968, he began- and after 30
years, has just bequeathed to others - the editorship of the Journal of the
History of Biology, among the earliest and one of the most important
publications in its field. At the same time, he has been a pioneer in the social
history and sociology of science. He has formed particularly close working
relationships with colleagues in Sweden and Germany - as witnessed by his
editorial presence in the Sociology of Science Yearbook. Less visible, but even
more in keeping with the man, has been his contribution - both in person and
in print - to the pursuit of peace in the Middle East. Whether in his own
university, or at a broader level, Everett Mendelsohn has always acted on a
global stage. He has contributed to the work of UNESCO and other interna
tional organizations, and has been honored by scholars throughout the world.
This volume offers the editors - both, former students - as well as other
students and colleagues who number among the leading scholars in their fields
- an opportunity to give thanks to a respected teacher and friend. The volume
is divided into four sections, each representing an aspect of Everett Mendel
sohn's diverse career, reflecting some of the many areas in which his influence
has been felt. Part I focuses upon the history of the life sciences, with essays on
ix
G. E. Allen and R.M. MacLeod (eds.), Science, History and Social Activism: A Tribute to Everett
Mendelsohn, ix-x.
© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.
X PREFACE
subjects ranging from radical views of nature in the enlightenment to
Mendelism and the rise of molecular biology. Part II continues with contribu
tions to the social studies of science, ranging from the concept of science as
social practice to the social movements in science of the 1960s and 1970s. It
concludes with a reflection by one who, having taken his courses, and was
inspired by his example, left academia for other walks of life. For Everett
Mendelsohn, knowing the social roles that scientists play is central to our
understanding of science. Part III therefore focuses upon the social responsi
bility of scientists, a topic of considerable interest to Everett from early on in
his career. In Part IV, which concludes the book, a colleague reviews Everett's
role and work in the Middle East peace process with the American Friends
Service Committee - an important aspect of his life that has rarely found
mention in print, but is well remembered by many who have never known him
as a university professor.
For their assistance in the preparation of this volume, we are indebted to
Mrs. Irma Morose of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, who
mastered so magnificently the challenging process of preparing camera-ready
copy; toMs Jill Barnes of the University of Sydney and to Everett's assistant
Yuri Hospadar, who helped assemble the complete bibliography, published at
the end of this volume. We also thank the staff at Kluwer Academic Publishers,
especially Charles Erkelens, who saw the manuscript through the final stages of
production. The index of proper names was expertly prepared by Kim Klein
man. The entire project was initially encoltraged by Annie Kuipers, now retired
from Kluwer. We are also indebted to Everett Mendelsohn himself, for agreeing
to be interviewed in Oxford and Boston during the summer of 2000. It is a
measure of the rna~ that he would wish to be involved in the preparation of
such a work, and actively so. We look forward to seeing more from his pen, as
formal retirement beckons, and as new opportunities arise, for one to whom the
very idea of scholarly inactivity is assuredly absurd.
Garland E. Allen and Roy M. MacLeod
St. Louis, Missouri, and Sydney, Australia
GARLAND E. ALLEN AND ROY MacLEOD
INTRODUCTION
"All new developments in the history of knowledge have been due to those
scientists who did more in their social roles than their critics wanted and
expected them to do". 1 So Florian Znaniecki concluded his landmark con
tribution to the sociology of knowledge. Alongside the technologist and the
sage, the scholar who systematizes knowledge and the scholar who fights for
truth, we see from time to time emerge those whom we call "explorers, those
who create new knowledge", and who stand at the apogee of human achieve
ment. Their achievement, however, lies not only in the domain of ideas. They
are above all those who see and understand cultural realities, and who "accept
as normal in the domain of knowledge ceaseless and unexpected change". 2
Znaniecki's description fits well the character and life of Everett Mendel
sohn, mentor and friend, to whom the following essays are dedicated. For over
forty years, Everett Mendelsohn's career has rested squarely on his service to
Harvard as classroom teacher and mentor to thousands of graduate and
undergraduate students; to the history of science through his writings and
penetrating questions at meetings far and wide, and to the international
community through his wide-ranging peace efforts in conjunction with the
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). During this time, he has seen
massive changes in all three areas - indeed, he has been an agent of change,
both in his profession, and in the way in which his profession is seen by others.
From fledgling beginnings in Widener Library, in the shadow of George
Sarton, the history of science has become an established feature not only at
Harvard, but many other universities around the world. Today, over 600
undergraduates at Harvard each year take courses in the History of Science
Department, and over 400 take the courses that Mendelsohn offers. His Social
Sciences 119 (currently Historical Study A 18), "Science and Society in the
Twentieth Century", is among Harvard's most popular undergraduate offer
ings. Few who attend his lectures fail to be impressed by his easy familiarity
with complex issues, and his ability to motivate the least motivated. For some,
it becomes an experience in learning how to think about professional issues as
matters of public interest. For others, it becomes an introduction to a world in
G. E. Allen and R. M. MacLeod ( eds.), Science, History and Social Activism: A Tribute to Everett
Mendelsohn, 1-20.
© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.