This recent book provides a much needed historical perspective on the topic of DNA sequencing-the... more This recent book provides a much needed historical perspective on the topic of DNA sequencing-the core of biology's 'big science' or 'omics' projects (primarily genomics, but also proteomics, which came to command large public attention and budgets since the early 1990s). The book also links its main topic of 'sequencing', which it views primarily as a 'form of work' (as opposed to emphasizing it as 'merely' a technique, funding strategy, or conceptual priority) to other key issues in modern biology, such as computing and software, database creation and usage, automation, and commercialization of customer oriented instruments, most notably the 'sequencer'. The book is divided into three parts, beginning with the historical origins of sequencing in the 1940s in the then key sub-discipline of protein chemistry, a field relying on concepts, methods, and laboratory practices from organic chemistry, chemistry of natural products, and macromolecular chemistry. Proteins' macromolecular status, previously denied during the 'dark age of biocolloidology' (roughly the first three decades of the 20 th Century) had been rehabilitated in the 1930s and rose to the supreme status of the "secret of life". Conducted in the international arena under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation, protein structure research attracted the attention of many top scientists, from various countries and disciplines, who all believed that protein structure would shed light on most biological functions, including respiration, digestion, and reproduction. The author is aware of the centrality long held by protein structure research, but does not explore whether or how that consuming preoccupation may have delayed the scientific community's interest in sequencing, whether of proteins or nucleic acids, (DNA and RNA) before as well as after WW2.
Focuses on 19th and 20th century American and European women scientists. Great introduction by th... more Focuses on 19th and 20th century American and European women scientists. Great introduction by the editors of essays written by 12 women historians. References, notes and a decent index helps for further reading and wondering when the men of science will wake up and smell the coffee
... for example, he would have liked to know more about the 'age, ethnicity, gender, nationa... more ... for example, he would have liked to know more about the 'age, ethnicity, gender, nationality ... to teach) was attempting a comprehensive history of the entire British crystallographic tribe, not only the ... composition of the clan, though I did not do a census of nationalities, I mentioned ...
Thèse (Ph. D.)--Université de Montréal, 1984. "Thèse présentée à la faculté des études supér... more Thèse (Ph. D.)--Université de Montréal, 1984. "Thèse présentée à la faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Philosophiae doctor (Ph. D.)." Microfilm du manuscrit.
Tracing the origins of a new scientific discipline, especially of a highly successful and recent ... more Tracing the origins of a new scientific discipline, especially of a highly successful and recent 'ultra-discipline' such as molecular biology, poses an ensemble of methodological problems for historians of twentieth century lifescience. Hailed since the 1960s as a revolution in biological thought, molecular biology is credited with having changed our conception of life. By revealing the ultimate nature and universality of the molecular mechanisms underlying the diversity of life forms, molecular biology challenged evolution as the central problem of biology. I As a notable biologist remarked while searching for a synthesis between 'molecular' and 'classical' biology: "Life as an abstraction lost its operative meaning. Biologists no longer study life. Instead, they investigate the structure of living systems, their functions, their history.'? The recognition of molecular biology as a distinct form of scientific knowledge raises the question of the historical circumstances that enabled (and constrained) the construction and validation of such new knowledge in the first place. However, the consolidation of molecular biology as an ultra-discipline, integrating resources from half a dozen traditional disciplines, while both challenging and redefining the very notion of a scientific discipline as the basic unit of order in science, poses questions far beyond the customary boundaries of intellectual history. The numerous changes in the social and institutional morphology of science, such as the establishment of new research institutes, academic programs, journals, workshops and numerous conferences, all signifying the social reality captured by the catchy and flexible metaphor 'molecular biology', suggest the need for a parallel social-theoretical inquiry into the processes of institutionalization and legitimation of new, ultra-disciplinary structures of scientific knowledge.! Still other important dimensions of the rise of molecular biology on the map of science include the following: first, a huge technological potential for affecting society at large as manifested in numerous world-wide ventures in the
Throughout the 1930s, Joseph Needham (1900—) was the foremost champion of chemical embryology. Du... more Throughout the 1930s, Joseph Needham (1900—) was the foremost champion of chemical embryology. During the period 1931–1942 he authored three large books, Chemical Embryology, A History of Embryology, and Biochemistry and Morphogenesis (1); a series of collaborative papers on “Physico-chemical experiments on the amphibian organizer” (2); and many annual reviews of this field for the Annual Review of Biochemistry.
Ever since its inception in the 1930s, and until its ultimate institutionalization as a new integ... more Ever since its inception in the 1930s, and until its ultimate institutionalization as a new integrative or umbrella discipline in the 1960s, molecular biology has primarily constituted itself in an international space, defined by an ongoing streamline of meetings of various sizes and degrees of in/formality, a preponderance of collaborative efforts and convoluted correspondence networks across many countries (1). Indeed, though all the early self-proclaimed membership of molecular biologists has aligned itself into several distinct groupings, or research schools, each revolving around its own constellation of nationally anchored science policy structures, institutional ecologies, disciplinary orientations, and charismatic leaders; in all cases, a substantial portion of each research school’s social composition and major conceptual legacy reflected the integral role of transnational affiliates, whether as visitors or as permanently naturalized emigres (2).
Professor Rosenkrantz’s paper tackles one of the most important problems in the history of biomed... more Professor Rosenkrantz’s paper tackles one of the most important problems in the history of biomedical science, namely the problem of making intelligible the meaning and structure of past controversies. Though rendered obsolete by later (and current) conventional views, the controversy over bovine tuberculosis (hereafter TB) assumed importance in the first decade of the twentieth century, especially in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada (i.e., countries with a high per capita milk and dairy products consumption).
Talk reflects on methodological shift from doing the history of a star woman scientist in the int... more Talk reflects on methodological shift from doing the history of a star woman scientist in the inter-war period, when the collection appeared in the mid-1980s; to a current preoccupation with the fate of the first generation of women scientists to be hired (and fired) in the 1970s
This recent book provides a much needed historical perspective on the topic of DNA sequencing-the... more This recent book provides a much needed historical perspective on the topic of DNA sequencing-the core of biology's 'big science' or 'omics' projects (primarily genomics, but also proteomics, which came to command large public attention and budgets since the early 1990s). The book also links its main topic of 'sequencing', which it views primarily as a 'form of work' (as opposed to emphasizing it as 'merely' a technique, funding strategy, or conceptual priority) to other key issues in modern biology, such as computing and software, database creation and usage, automation, and commercialization of customer oriented instruments, most notably the 'sequencer'. The book is divided into three parts, beginning with the historical origins of sequencing in the 1940s in the then key sub-discipline of protein chemistry, a field relying on concepts, methods, and laboratory practices from organic chemistry, chemistry of natural products, and macromolecular chemistry. Proteins' macromolecular status, previously denied during the 'dark age of biocolloidology' (roughly the first three decades of the 20 th Century) had been rehabilitated in the 1930s and rose to the supreme status of the "secret of life". Conducted in the international arena under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation, protein structure research attracted the attention of many top scientists, from various countries and disciplines, who all believed that protein structure would shed light on most biological functions, including respiration, digestion, and reproduction. The author is aware of the centrality long held by protein structure research, but does not explore whether or how that consuming preoccupation may have delayed the scientific community's interest in sequencing, whether of proteins or nucleic acids, (DNA and RNA) before as well as after WW2.
Focuses on 19th and 20th century American and European women scientists. Great introduction by th... more Focuses on 19th and 20th century American and European women scientists. Great introduction by the editors of essays written by 12 women historians. References, notes and a decent index helps for further reading and wondering when the men of science will wake up and smell the coffee
... for example, he would have liked to know more about the 'age, ethnicity, gender, nationa... more ... for example, he would have liked to know more about the 'age, ethnicity, gender, nationality ... to teach) was attempting a comprehensive history of the entire British crystallographic tribe, not only the ... composition of the clan, though I did not do a census of nationalities, I mentioned ...
Thèse (Ph. D.)--Université de Montréal, 1984. "Thèse présentée à la faculté des études supér... more Thèse (Ph. D.)--Université de Montréal, 1984. "Thèse présentée à la faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Philosophiae doctor (Ph. D.)." Microfilm du manuscrit.
Tracing the origins of a new scientific discipline, especially of a highly successful and recent ... more Tracing the origins of a new scientific discipline, especially of a highly successful and recent 'ultra-discipline' such as molecular biology, poses an ensemble of methodological problems for historians of twentieth century lifescience. Hailed since the 1960s as a revolution in biological thought, molecular biology is credited with having changed our conception of life. By revealing the ultimate nature and universality of the molecular mechanisms underlying the diversity of life forms, molecular biology challenged evolution as the central problem of biology. I As a notable biologist remarked while searching for a synthesis between 'molecular' and 'classical' biology: "Life as an abstraction lost its operative meaning. Biologists no longer study life. Instead, they investigate the structure of living systems, their functions, their history.'? The recognition of molecular biology as a distinct form of scientific knowledge raises the question of the historical circumstances that enabled (and constrained) the construction and validation of such new knowledge in the first place. However, the consolidation of molecular biology as an ultra-discipline, integrating resources from half a dozen traditional disciplines, while both challenging and redefining the very notion of a scientific discipline as the basic unit of order in science, poses questions far beyond the customary boundaries of intellectual history. The numerous changes in the social and institutional morphology of science, such as the establishment of new research institutes, academic programs, journals, workshops and numerous conferences, all signifying the social reality captured by the catchy and flexible metaphor 'molecular biology', suggest the need for a parallel social-theoretical inquiry into the processes of institutionalization and legitimation of new, ultra-disciplinary structures of scientific knowledge.! Still other important dimensions of the rise of molecular biology on the map of science include the following: first, a huge technological potential for affecting society at large as manifested in numerous world-wide ventures in the
Throughout the 1930s, Joseph Needham (1900—) was the foremost champion of chemical embryology. Du... more Throughout the 1930s, Joseph Needham (1900—) was the foremost champion of chemical embryology. During the period 1931–1942 he authored three large books, Chemical Embryology, A History of Embryology, and Biochemistry and Morphogenesis (1); a series of collaborative papers on “Physico-chemical experiments on the amphibian organizer” (2); and many annual reviews of this field for the Annual Review of Biochemistry.
Ever since its inception in the 1930s, and until its ultimate institutionalization as a new integ... more Ever since its inception in the 1930s, and until its ultimate institutionalization as a new integrative or umbrella discipline in the 1960s, molecular biology has primarily constituted itself in an international space, defined by an ongoing streamline of meetings of various sizes and degrees of in/formality, a preponderance of collaborative efforts and convoluted correspondence networks across many countries (1). Indeed, though all the early self-proclaimed membership of molecular biologists has aligned itself into several distinct groupings, or research schools, each revolving around its own constellation of nationally anchored science policy structures, institutional ecologies, disciplinary orientations, and charismatic leaders; in all cases, a substantial portion of each research school’s social composition and major conceptual legacy reflected the integral role of transnational affiliates, whether as visitors or as permanently naturalized emigres (2).
Professor Rosenkrantz’s paper tackles one of the most important problems in the history of biomed... more Professor Rosenkrantz’s paper tackles one of the most important problems in the history of biomedical science, namely the problem of making intelligible the meaning and structure of past controversies. Though rendered obsolete by later (and current) conventional views, the controversy over bovine tuberculosis (hereafter TB) assumed importance in the first decade of the twentieth century, especially in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada (i.e., countries with a high per capita milk and dairy products consumption).
Talk reflects on methodological shift from doing the history of a star woman scientist in the int... more Talk reflects on methodological shift from doing the history of a star woman scientist in the inter-war period, when the collection appeared in the mid-1980s; to a current preoccupation with the fate of the first generation of women scientists to be hired (and fired) in the 1970s
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