Abstracts of the History of Science Society 2004 Austin Meeting 18 ...
Abstracts of the History of Science Society 2004 Austin Meeting 18 ...
Abstracts of the History of Science Society 2004 Austin Meeting 18 ...
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In <strong>the</strong> late 1960s, computer scientists Edward Feigenbaum and Bruce Buchanan and geneticist Joshua Lederberg led Stanford<br />
University’s DENDRAL (Dendritic Algorithm) project, an effort to develop heuristic computer programs capable <strong>of</strong> emulating <strong>the</strong><br />
decision-making process through which chemists infer <strong>the</strong> structures <strong>of</strong> complex organic molecules from mass spectrographic analysis<br />
data. As an exemplar <strong>of</strong> expert systems, DENDRAL is remembered primarily for its contributions to <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> artificial intelligence,<br />
but as <strong>the</strong> embodiment <strong>of</strong> a formal attempt to model and automate problem-solving behavior it also provides <strong>the</strong> means to investigate<br />
how scientists’ hypo<strong>the</strong>sis-formation practices and computer technology have shaped one ano<strong>the</strong>r. An examination <strong>of</strong> DENDRAL also<br />
illuminates <strong>the</strong> unique nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> changes computers brought to laboratory practice; like many later computer systems, DENDRAL<br />
effectively automated creative processes, thus setting it apart from o<strong>the</strong>r instruments—e.g. electron microscopes and ultracentrifuges—<br />
regarded as agents <strong>of</strong> epistemological change. Finally, because DENDRAL’s proponents explicitly incorporated into <strong>the</strong>ir system’s<br />
design conventions <strong>the</strong>y derived from <strong>the</strong>n prevalent discourses <strong>of</strong> history and philosophy <strong>of</strong> science, exploring DENDRAL provides<br />
a singular opportunity to help elucidate <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional study <strong>of</strong> science on science itself.<br />
Lynn K. Nyhart, University <strong>of</strong> Wisconsin, Madison (lknyhart@wisc.edu)<br />
Saturday, 20-Nov-04, 3:30 - 5:30 PM - Texas Ballroom VI<br />
Bringing Natural <strong>History</strong> to Life: “Practical” Natural <strong>History</strong>, Museums, and Zoos in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Germany<br />
In this paper, I examine a German movement in <strong>the</strong> <strong>18</strong>60s and <strong>18</strong>70s to reform and enliven natural history. Articulated most clearly<br />
by <strong>the</strong> self-described “practical naturalist” Philipp Leopold Martin (<strong>18</strong>15-<strong>18</strong>86) in his multi-volume Praxis der Naturgeschichte (<strong>18</strong>69-<strong>18</strong>82),<br />
this movement sought to liberate natural history from <strong>the</strong> deadening science <strong>of</strong> systematics, simultaneously restoring life to <strong>the</strong> subject<br />
and giving it a broader appeal. In opposing systematics, Martin was pushing for something bigger than an alternative <strong>the</strong>oretical perspective:<br />
he sought to play down <strong>the</strong> significance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ory overall and elevate <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> praxis in natural history, to enhance <strong>the</strong> status<br />
<strong>of</strong> those who cultivated <strong>the</strong> “practical” aspects <strong>of</strong> natural history, such as taxidermic preparation, museum display, and caring for<br />
living animals. Reformed natural history would thus take natural history out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hands <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essors and place it in those <strong>of</strong> “<strong>the</strong><br />
people.” An examination <strong>of</strong> this reform movement <strong>of</strong>fers a new perspective on <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> natural history practice that views both<br />
museums and zoos as vehicles for a common reform end.<br />
Naomi Oreskes, University <strong>of</strong> California, San Diego (noreskes@ucsd.edu)<br />
Saturday, 20-Nov-04, 9:00 - 11:45 AM - Texas Ballroom III<br />
Secrecy and Sea-floor Spreading<br />
The Mertonian belief that science must operate under conditions <strong>of</strong> free and open communication has been refuted by our knowledge<br />
<strong>of</strong> Soviet and American science in <strong>the</strong> Cold War. Yet <strong>the</strong> question remains how scientists negotiated <strong>the</strong> competing demands <strong>of</strong> security<br />
and revelation, and what effects <strong>the</strong>se maneuvers may have had on <strong>the</strong>ir science. This paper examines <strong>the</strong>se questions through <strong>the</strong><br />
lens <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> major developments <strong>of</strong> 20th century earth science, <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ory <strong>of</strong> sea-floor spreading. Harry Hess’s concept <strong>of</strong> seafloor<br />
spreading was critical to <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ory <strong>of</strong> plate tectonics, which in <strong>the</strong> late 1960s became <strong>the</strong> unifying <strong>the</strong>ory <strong>of</strong><br />
modern earth science—<strong>the</strong> first generally accepted global tectonic <strong>the</strong>ory in <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> science. Hess’s ideas were inspired and supported<br />
to a considerable degree by new information about <strong>the</strong> sea floor, acquired by American earth scientists working under Navy<br />
sponsorship, but <strong>the</strong> Navy did not collect bathymetric data for <strong>the</strong>ir relevance to tectonic <strong>the</strong>ories; it collected <strong>the</strong>m for <strong>the</strong>ir relevance<br />
to navigation and <strong>the</strong> accurate launching <strong>of</strong> inter-continental ballistic missile, Because <strong>of</strong> this relevance, Navy bathymetric data were<br />
routinely classified. Did this matter? Hess thought so, and repeatedly strove to convince <strong>the</strong> Navy to release classified data on <strong>the</strong><br />
ocean floor, arguing that critical work was being stymied. This paper examines <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> secrecy on <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> scientific<br />
knowledge about <strong>the</strong> Earth in <strong>the</strong> mid 1950s and ‘60s, and suggests that <strong>the</strong> general climate <strong>of</strong> secrecy if not <strong>the</strong> particulars <strong>of</strong> security<br />
protocols—did indeed impede <strong>the</strong> dissemination, contextualization, and interpretation <strong>of</strong> critical data. A great deal was learned<br />
about <strong>the</strong> oceans as a result <strong>of</strong> Navy sponsorship <strong>of</strong> oceanographic research, but that sponsorship was not without its costs, both<br />
human and epistemic.<br />
Hanna Östholm, Dept for <strong>History</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Science</strong> and Ideas, Uppsala University (hanna.ostholm@idehist.uu.se)<br />
Saturday, 20-Nov-04, 1:30 - 3:10 PM - Hill Country A<br />
The “Idea <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> University”: The Impact <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Berlin University on Scandinavia and Sweden in Early 19th Century<br />
Kant, Schelling, Fichte, Schleiermacher and Humboldt were <strong>the</strong> major <strong>the</strong>orists on higher education, and also read by Swedish intellectuals<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir time. Their influence on <strong>the</strong> debate on higher education seems unquestionable, but early references to <strong>the</strong>m are surprisingly<br />
scarce. However, <strong>the</strong>re was an ongoing discussion during early 19th century about <strong>the</strong> purpose and structure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> university, concerning<br />
<strong>the</strong> proper disciplines, <strong>the</strong> organization and relation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> faculties as well as <strong>the</strong> universities’ location and relation to society –<br />
all <strong>of</strong> which both Swedish and German authors touched upon. During this time <strong>the</strong> Berlin University had been recently founded, as had<br />
<strong>the</strong> universities <strong>of</strong> Christiania (Oslo), Norway and Helsinki, Finland. A major inquiry <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Swedish education was published in <strong>18</strong>28,<br />
and will be discussed both in European and Nordic context.<br />
Laura Otis, H<strong>of</strong>stra University (otis@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de)<br />
Friday, 19-Nov-04, 1:30 - 3:10 PM - Hill Country D