TABLE OF CONTENTS
- SOCIETY AND MEETING INFORMATION
- ANNOUNCEMENTS
- MEMBERSHIP AND RENEWAL INFORMATION
- FALL 1996 NEWSLETTER
- ISHPSSB STANDING COMMITTEES
SOCIETY AND MEETING INFORMATION
President's Corner
Peter Taylor
While the program committee gears up to attract, stimulate and facilitate session proposals for '97 -- the main purpose of the Society -- some of us have been at work generating and rationalizing the Society's bureaucratic affairs. In particular, we need to reduce and distribute the enormous number of tasks going into the Secretary's in-box. So please take note of what follows and then i) direct inquiries to the relevant Committee chair rather than the Secretary; and ii) get things done and announced early enough that the Secretary isn't overwhelmed with inquiries.
The following committees have been established, with the members and tasks listed. The current by-laws say all committee members must be from the Council. At the Seattle meetings we hope to change this to have at least two Council members on each committee, with the other members from the membership (An exception will be the membership of the Executive Committee, all of whose members are drawn from the Council). In the meantime, non-Council members of committees are technically advisers to the committees.
Mailing addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers for Council members and for all committee chairs are here.
- Executive Committee of the ISHPSSB Council Membership: President (Chair), President-elect, Past-president, Program Officer, Secretary, Treasurer.
- Current Members: Peter Taylor (chair), Elisabeth Lloyd, Chip Burkhardt, Bob Richardson, Barbara Horan, Ron Rainger.
- ISHPSSB Council Membership: Executive Committee + 6 Directors-at-Large + Student Representative.
- Current Members: Peter Taylor (chair), Elisabeth Lloyd, Chip Burkhardt, Robert Richardson, Barbara Horan, Ron Rainger, Jim Griesemer, Paul Griffiths, Christiane Groeben, Joan Fujimura, Larry Holmes, Helen Longino, Chris Young.
- Nominations and Elections Committee Chair: Past-President.
- Current Members: Chip Burkhardt (chair), Jim Griesemer, Christiane Groeben, Helen Longino, John Jungck.
The Chair will receive and count ballots, which will be distributed with the spring newsletter.
The nominating process will get going in the fall. Send committee members your suggestions. Prospective Council nominees should be aware that, if elected, they will have to serve on 1-3 committees and volunteer for jobs such as newsletter editor.
- Local Arrangements and Site Selection Committee Chair: Council member
- Current Members: Peter Taylor (chair), Keith Benson, Joan Fujimura, Ron Rainger, Bob Richardson
The Program Officer and Local Arrangements Co-ordinator will be members of this committee. The committee will be the backup for (and, if needed, watchdog over) the Local Arrangements Co-ordinator.
Michoacan, Mexico is the intended site for the 1999 meeting. Local arrangements co-ordinator is
- Program Committee Chair: Program Officer
- Current Members: Bob Richardson (chair), Dick Burian, Werner Callebaut, Kathy Cooke, Marilia Coutinho, Joan Fujimura, Paul Griffiths, Yrjo Haila, Michael Lynch, and Cor van der Weele.
The 1997 meeting of ISHPSSB will be held in Seattle, Washington. The conference dates are Wednesday July 16 through Sunday July 20, as originally scheduled. Anyone anticipating a clash with the Biosemiotics meeting before ISHPPSB or the International History of Science meeting after ISHPSSB should inform the 1997 Program Co-ordinator, Bob Richardson. Bob will try to schedule your session to avoid conflicts.
- Prize Committee Chair: Council member
- Current Members: Ron Rainger (chair), Adele Clark, Marjorie Grene, and Jim Griesemer.
Marjorie Grene has graciously agreed to allow the Society's prize named after her. Please alert eligible people and encourage them to enter. The postmark deadline for submissions for the first competition is February 1, 1997. The winning entry will be announced by April 15, 1997. Guidelines for submissions appear below.
- Newsletter/Internet Committee Chair: Council member
- Current members: Peter Taylor (chair), Chris Young (email list and newsletter editor F96 and S97), Valerie Hardcastle (WWW site), Barbara Horan (newsletter editor S96).
The Secretary will be on this committee and might serve as the chair, but will be spared the job of newsletter production.
- By-laws Review Committee Chair: Council member
- Current members: Chip Burkhardt (chair), Peter Taylor, Elihu Gerson
The following are areas in which we might implement formal changes or motions for such at the next annual meeting of the Society:
I. Committees are currently supposed to be made up of Council members. I plan to propose a change to ensure that two members of any committee are from the Council (again, the exception is the Executive Committee), but the rest can be from the membership at large. (The President appoints committees, with the Council's approval.)
II. The by-laws specify that the Society must have a general meeting annually. I propose to use the Society's email list for a virtual annual meeting, spread over a few days in the early fall of the in-between years. This would be launched with reports and then followed by a ruling from the chair that all motions formulated would be tabled, that is, they could be discussed but not voted upon until the next actual meeting. A virtual Council meeting would then follow this general meeting (the Council is more or less operating this way at the moment).
II. The Past-President, as chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee, would handle the elections, so that no-one standing for office would be doing that job. Members of that committee wanting to stand for office should arrange for a nomination from the membership at large, not from the committee itself.
IV. At the end of every quarter, the local arrangements co-ordinator should report to the Executive Committee, as well as to the Local Arrangements & Site Committee, on plans, progress or lack thereof.
V. At the end of every quarter, the program officer should report to the Executive Committee, as well as to the Program Committee, on plans, progress or lack thereof.
Reactions, favorable or otherwise, requested,
CCACC
8 Bishop Place
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ 08903
Phone: 908-932-8678 (o); 8683 (fax)
Email:
Notes on the 1997 Meeting
Robert C. Richardson, Chair Program Committee
The next meeting of ISHPSSB will be held in Seattle, Washington, USA from July 16th through July 20th, 1997. The main charge of the 1997 Program Committee is to maintain the special quality of ISHPSSB meetings, continuing the inclusive character of the Society. To this end the Committee encourages attendance and participation from historians, philosophers, social scientists, and biologists. As a rule we will limit participants to one main presentation in order to facilitate participation in the meeting; that is consistent with also serving as a commentator or chair in an additional session.
The Program Committee would like to have completed symposium topics for the 1997 meeting by November 1, 1996 in order to facilitate coordination. Members interested in organizing symposium sessions should send calls for papers for symposium topics to the chair of the 1997 Program committee. All calls for papers will be published on the ISHPSSB Website, on ISHPSB-L (the Society's email listserve), and in the next newsletter.
Deadline for detailed submissions for other presentations is January 31, 1997. All presentations must have a one page abstract, of roughly 200 words, provided to the Program Committee by January 31. As a guideline for session organizers, we plan on two morning and two afternoon sessions each day of 90 minutes each. In 1995 there were no evening sessions; however, we might schedule the plenary session for one evening this year.
Possible plenary session: "Biology and Agents without History." Organizer: Peter Taylor. The name derives from Eric Wolf's book, Europe and the People Without History (1982) and would address the people and things tending to be written out of biology and of our studies of biology, but implicated materially, discursively, economically or psychologically as the Others. This topic might include speakers on core/periphery, Man vs. gendered agents, basic vs. applied science (e.g., basic ecology vs. environmental science for regulatory purposes), formal vs. folk science. I would like speakers to highlight the dimensions they have been exploring and the methods they have come to use that others could learn from. Suggestions or volunteers for speakers would also be welcome.
In addition to the plenary, we have a number of proposed sessions. Organizers with sessions in mind, or topics for proposed sessions, should contact the program chair. Those interested in a particular session should contact the session organizer directly. Those so far proposed include:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) andThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): "Going Molecular" -- how molecular biological concepts and techniques transformed various fields or research problems. This will include papers from the following, at least: Nathaniel Comfort "Barbara McClintock and Transposons" Lindley Darden "From Inheritance of Acquired Characters to Adaptive Mutation" Martha Keyes "Prions: Scrapie and Mad Cow Disease Go Molecular"Other relevant topics would include: Developmental Biology, Neuroscience, Molecular Evolution, Animal Behavior Research Goes Molecular.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) andThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): Animal issues. Richard Burkhardt (University of Illinois) and Susanne Lijmbach (Wageningen Agricultural University) want to organize some coherent sessions about studies into animals, animal sciences and philosophy of animals. The background of this idea is that we hope to create some continuity between the lectures, participants and discussions of these sessions. Possible issues of these sessions can be: history of animal sciences, animal subjectivity, animal ethics, animal politics, cultural views on animals, human-animal relationships, etcetera. The definite issues of the sessions will be decided after the response on this first call. We ask all who think they will participate in sessions about animal issues to contact Richard Burkhardt or Susanne Lijmbach.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): Promoting the Evolutionary Epic: Lessons from History and Future Prospects.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): Connections between philosophy of biology and philosophy of psychology. Possible participants at this point include: Andre Ariew (University of Arizona),David Buller (Northern Illinois University), Peter Godfrey-Smith (Stanford), Valerie Hardcastle (Virginia Tech), Ruth Millikan (U. Conn.), Karen Neander (Johns Hopkins), Thomas Polger and Owen Flanagan (Duke), Larry Shapiro (Wisconsin), Elliot Sober (Wisconsin), Kim Sterelny (Victoria University), and Denis Walsh (Wisconsin).This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): Memorial Session for Donald Campbell.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) and Jane Maienschien (atjvm@asuacad): Session in honor of Fred Churchill, including a series of papers by former and current students, which would emphasize how Fred's approach and emphases influenced our work. Participants include: Ron Rainger, Jane Maienschien, Martha Richmond, Paul Farber, Judy Johns Schlegel, and John Beatty.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) History and StyleThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): Prospects for a Developmental Synthesis in Evolutionary Biology. Among the paper topics might be: 1) statements from developmental biologists on their view of the matter perhaps "Is a second Synthesis needed?"); 2) historical/philosophical discussions of Synthesis biology and how the present situation came about; 3) maybe a pro-Synthesis rejoinder?This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): Biosafety Judgements: Modelling the Socio-Natural Order. This mini-stream will critically examine the role of scientific knowledge in regulatory policy. This includes the funding and design of 'biosafety research', especially ecological research. The stream will include as many (or as few) papers as are appropriate for the intended focus. Delegates are welcome to organize mini-streams on other aspects of biotechnology. This mini-stream is intended to link two constituencies -- critical analysts of biosafety claims and of environmental sciences -- who attended the 1995 ISHPSSB conference, including each others' streams. Anyone interested should contact Les Levidow, Fax 44-1908-652175.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): Core-Periphery Relations and Non-Traditional Contexts in Knowledge Production in the Life Sciences. The discussion group formed at the 1995 ISHPPSB meeting in Leuven invites papers on: - relations of central and peripheral countries in the development of scientific disciplines or specialties - science in non-traditional contexts: comparative perspectives (national styles, national objects) - the institutionalization of biological/biomedical sciences in peripheral countries and non-traditional contexts - interpretative issues and the concepts involved in center-periphery relations theory - methodological aspects: a) comparative studies between peripheries and between core and periphery; b) historical evolution or deep changes? c) interplay between national context and influence from the core - peripheral countries, peripheral science, non-traditional contexts: the concepts of marginality and hierarchical organization of knowledge production, alternative views - scientific imperialism - scientific excellence in peripheral countries - exclusion and hierarchy in scientific activity in central and peripheral countries and institutions.Invited participants include: Hebe Vessuri (IVIC, Venezuela), Marcos Cueto (IEP, Peru) and Thomas Glick (Boston University, USA). For more information, contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil), email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
The members of the Program Committee, listed below, welcome ideas, comments and suggestions about the 1997 Meeting:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Chair (U. Cincinnati)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Virginia Tech)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Maastricht, Netherlands)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ORThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Quinnipiac College)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Sao Paolo)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Stanford)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Otago, New Zealand)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Tampere, Finland)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Brunel, England)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Utrecht)This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Historians, philosophers, social scientists and biologists are invited to organize further sessions or to suggest possible session topics. Contact any member of the Program Committee for more information.
ISHPSSB is pleased to announce the establishment of The Marjorie Grene Prize. This prize is intended to advance the careers of younger scholars, and will be awarded to the best manuscript based on a paper presented at one of the previous two ISHPSSB meetings by someone who was, at the time of presentation, a graduate student.
It is very appropriate for ISHPSSB to name this prize in Marjorie Grene's honor. Her work in history and philosophy of biology has provided models for many ISHPSSB members, and exemplifies the spirit of pursuing interactions among the fields within ISHPSSB; she played a central role in bringing together the scholars in the meetings that became the pre-history of ISHPSSB; and she has been a mentor to many of the leading members of the Society.
The award will consist of a certificate and up to $200 towards expenses incurred in attending the following meeting of the Society and not reimbursed from another source. If the manuscript is not already under review by a journal, the prize committee will promote the winning entry to one of the leading journals.
The postmark deadline for submissions for the first competition is 1 February 1997. The winning entry will be announced by April 15 1997. Send three copies of manuscripts to Prof. R. Rainger, History Department, Texas Tech. University, Lubbock, TX 79409. ISHPSSB encourages, but does not require, all entrants to be members of the Society.
ISHPSSB Listserve/Website Ideas for additional items to include on our website are always welcome -- please forward them to
From the Listmeister
We have established a moderated e-mail list for the Society. Please save this message for future reference, especially if you are not familiar with LISTSERV. This might look like a waste of space now, but in 6 months you will be glad you saved this information when you realize that you cannot remember what are the lists you are subscribed to, or what is the command to leave the list to avoid filling up your mailbox while you are on vacations. In fact, you should create a new mail folder for subscription confirmation messages like this one, and for the "welcome messages" from the list owners that you will occasionally receive after subscribing to a new list.
Any member interested in receiving mailings on this e-mail list should "subscribe" to the list by sending the following message
SUBSCRIBE ISHPSB-L yourfirstname yourlastname
to
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
By the way, the reason there is only one 'S' in our listserv name is because we were limited to 8 characters.
Once you subscribe to the list, your name and e-mail address will be added to the list and you will receive a verification. At that point, you can participate as much or as little as you like in various conversations on the e-mail list.
To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just send mail to
Mailings will be assembled about once a month by a moderator, a real live person who will read through the messages and sort them by topic. The moderator will help to reduce the amount of mail that ends up coming to your inboxes by combining related messages, eliminating duplication, and making sure only messages intended for the entire list end up being e-mailed to everyone.
If the number of messages coming in to the moderator is large, or if messages have timely information (e.g. meeting or seminar announcements), the moderator may forward mailings to the e-mail list more frequently.
One of the most important functions for the web site is to facilitate the connection of people with related paper proposals or session ideas that are not yet complete. We encourage members to send out "calls for papers" to the e-mail list. This will allow more rapid turnaround for session development. ISHPSSB members may submit their tentative proposals to the Society's email list by sending them via email to the list address,
The newsletter will also go out to the e-mail list. Once the list is up and running, if you prefer not to receive a printed version of the newsletter in the mail (snail mail), your name could be dropped from that mailing list (thus reducing printing and mailing costs for the Society).
Every ISHPSSB member is encouraged to subscribe to the e-mail list to enjoy more frequent and rapid correspondence with other members. If you know other members who have not subscribed, please encourage them to do so. Of course, an e-mail list should not marginalize members whose internet access is limited, by location or by choice. The Society will continue its regular mailings.
Other Websites/Email Lists of Interest
I. The History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS) Working Group webpage is now available at:
http://kasey.umkc.edu/ac/sci-stud/hopos/
Included on the page are links to:
- Conference schedule, including abstracts of papers, for the First HOPOS conference, held at the Hotel Roanoke, Roanoke, Virginia, April 19-21 1996.
- Information concerning the Working Group, HOPOS newsletters (including the latest edition, of March 1996), and relevant upcoming conferences.
- Images of philosophers, suitable for framing.
- Links to other philosophy and science studies web pages.
The HOPOS Homepage is maintained at the University of Misourri - Kansas City, through the generous efforts of George Gale and Elam O'Renick.
II. The NCSU list has many addresses, and many links to other sites. This homepage is considered to be one of the most widely accessed in the world for S&TS. Find it with your web browser at
http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/chass/mds/stslinks.html
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Biology and Philosophy and Journal of the History of Biology
Available to Members at Reduced Rates
Subscriptions to these two journals published by Kluwer Academic Publishers are available to members of our society at a reduced rate. The reduced rates for 1996 are:
Biology and Philosophy: US$ 70.00
Journal of the History of Biology: US$ 70.00
Society members interested in these special rates should send their subscription orders and payments to: Kluwer Academic Publishers, Distribution Centre, PO Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Members should include with their subscription requests a statement that they are ISHPSSB members and are requesting the member rate. The contact person in case of problems is
Members are invited to request a copy of the ISHPSSB Directory by sending a request to Barbara Horan, the Society secretary. The first copy is free. Members who would like a second copy of the directory are asked to forward a check for $3.00 payable to the Society to cover copying and mailing costs. The directory is updated at the beginning of each year; members submitting requests after February 1 will receive a copy of the latest directory.
Ecology and Empire: The Environmental History of Settler Societies
Conference Dates: 19-20 September 1996. Location: Australia House, The Strand, London, UK. Conference theme: The Australian environmental experience in a global and comparative context. We will explore the biological dimensions of European imperialism, and to reveal the extent to which ecology and empire were partners. The conference will focus these new perspectives and will draw particularly on the historical experiences of Africa, Australia and the Americas.
The conference is sponsored by the Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, 28 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DS. Ph: +44 (0)171 580 5876; Fax: +44 (0)171 580 9627. Contact Dr.
All welcome. Please let us know if you would like to be included on our conference mailing list for future bulletins.
12th Annual Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies Conference
Conference Dates: April 4-6, 1997. Location: University of California, Berkeley. Conference topic: Death and Life. INCS welcomes proposals for its 12th annual conference. Suggested topics include: ceremonies and technologies of birth and death; disease and epidemic; war and mutiny; the concept of population; capital punishment; labor, midwifery, male birthing; pathos, sentimentality, mourning; elegies and other writing about the dead; anatomical illustration and picturing the dead.
Send 200 word abstracts, and, if possible, papers (15 pages maximum). We will consider proposal for inter-disciplinary panels that draw on scholars from at least three different disciplines. When proposing a panel, please indicate whether you would like individual papers considered separately if the panel is not accepted. Abstracts are due by October 15, 1996; notification of acceptance will be sent by December 1, 1996; completed papers will be due by January 15, 1997. Direct all correspondence to:
Selected conference papers will be published in Nineteenth-Century Contexts: An Interdisciplinary Journal.
Joint Atlantic Seminar in the History of Biology and Medicine
Conference Dates: 11-12 April 1997. Location: Yale University. Conference Theme: The program committee invites abstracts (maximum length: 300 words) on all aspects of the history of biology, medicine, and the life sciences. Paper presentations will be limited to 20 minutes and must be original work, not published or in press. Submissions from graduate students, recent graduates, and junior faculty are especially encouraged. Abstracts must be received by 31 January 1997; notification will be made by 28 February 1997. Registration material, and information on housing and possible travel grants will also be available in February.
Abstracts, requests for registration materials and questions about the meeting should be directed to
Second International Congress in Philosophy, Phenomenology and the Sciences of Life
Conference Dates: 5-9 June 1997. Location: Politechnical University of Gdansk, Poland. Conference topics: Origins of life, Individuation, Evolution of Types, The New Critic of Reason and the Human Creative Condition. Abstracts by 1 January 1997 and papers by 1 April 1997 should be sent to Prof. A-T. Tymieniecka, Program Director, World Phenomenology Institute, 348 Payson Road, Belmont, MA 02178 USA. Registration fee: $150 USD.
29th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Conference Dates: 19-22 June 1997. Location: University of Richmond, Richmond VA, USA. Conference theme: Program submissions (symposia, papers and posters) that deal with any aspect of the history of the behavioral and social sciences or with related historiographical or methodological issues are welcome. Submissions must be postmarked by 1 February 1997. Travel awards are available to students who present papers or posters. For further information contact
George Washington University Center for History of Recent Science Postdoctoral Fellowships
The Department of History at George Washington University has established the Center for History of Recent Science and will offer a pair of two-year postdoctoral fellowships beginning in 1996. "Recent science" comprises lines of research in physical or biological sciences that have been carried out for the most part by scientists who are still living. Inquiries and letters of application should be sent to
1997-98 Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science and Technology Studies
A Mellon Foundation postdoctoral teaching-research fellowship is available in the Department of Science amd Technology Studies at Cornell University. While in residence at Cornell, postdoctoral fellows hold department affiliation, and have limited teaching duties and the opportunity for scholarly work. Applicants are encouraged from any of the four component fields of Science and Technology Studies: sociology of science and technology; history of science and technology; philosophy of science and technology; politics and policy of science and technology.
The postdoctoral teaching-research fellowship will begin July 1, 1997 and offers a stipend of $28,000. Applicants must have received the Ph.D. degree after September 1991. Applicants who will receive the Ph.D. degree by June 30, 1997 are eligible to apply. Fellowships are limited to citizens of the United States, Canada, or those with permanent U.S. residency cards. To apply, please contact: Ms. Agnes Sirrine, Program Administrator, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships, Cornell University, A.D. White Center for the Humanities, 27 East Avenue, Ithaca, NY 14853-1101, Telephone: (607) 255-9274.
All application materials (including letters of recommendation) must be postmarked on or before January 4, 1997. Awards will be announced in February 1997.
Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology 1997-98 Fellows Programs
The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology invites applications to its two fellowship programs for 1997-1998: the Senior Fellows program and the new Post-Doctoral Fellows program. The Dibner Institute expects to have fifteen Senior Fellows each term and up to five Post-Doctoral Fellows each year.
Senior Fellows Program Candidates for Senior Fellowships should have advanced degrees in appropriate fields and offer evidence of substantial scholarly accomplishment and professional experience. Resident: Scholars may apply to the Senior Resident Fellows Program for the Fall (Term 1), the Spring (Term 2), or both. Term 1 extends from August 1 through December 31, with full activities beginning on September 1. Term 2 extends from January 1 through May 31, with full activities beginning on February 1. At the time of application, term-1 candidates may request an arrival date in July; term-2 candidates may request an extension into June. Visiting: Scholars may apply to the Visiting Fellows Program for less than a full term but in any case, for at least two consecutive months.
Post-Doctoral Fellows Program Fellowships are awarded to outstanding young scholars of diverse countries of origin who have obtained the Ph.D. or equivalent within the previous five years. Post-Doctoral Fellowships run for one year, from July 1 through June 30, and may be extended for a second and final year at the discretion of the Dibner Institute.
The Dibner Institute is an international center for advanced research in the history of science and technology, established in Massachusetts in 1992. It includes the Burndy Library as its scholarly library resource and enjoys the participation in its programs of faculty members and students of consortium-member institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as host institution, Boston University, Brandeis University and Harvard University.
The Dibner Institute provides office space, support facilities and full privileges at the Burndy Library and at the libraries of consortium universities. Fellows will have access to the entire spectrum of activities that take place at the Dibner Institute where they will be able to collaborate in an atmosphere of collegiality and find the resources and appropriate settings to carry on their work.
All Dibner Fellows are expected to reside in the Boston area during the term of their grants, to participate in the activities of the Dibner Institute community and to present their current work at appropriate occasions during their fellowship appointments.
Funds are available for housing, living expenses and return travel costs. Estimates of costs, as well as the average stipend for 1996-1997, are provided with the application forms. The deadline for receipt of applications for 1997-1998 is January 1, 1997. Fellowship recipients will be announced in March, 1997. Please send requests for further information and for application forms directly to:
Dibner Institute Resident Fellows for 1996-1997
The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology is pleased to announce the appointments of twenty Dibner Institute Resident Fellows for 1996-1997. Next year's Dibner Fellows come from several nations and pursue many different aspects of the history of science and technology. Their names and scholarly projects follow:
- Bruno Belhoste (Institut National de Recherche PÈdagogique, France). Continuing research on scientific education in the 19th century, investigating the connections between pure and applied sciences, specifically in the areas of applied geometry and applied mechanics.
- J. Bruce Brackenridge (Chapman Professor of Physics, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin). A comparative study of the major diagrams in Newton's Principia using materials in the Grace K. Babson Collection of Newtoniana, now permanently housed at the Dibner Institute's Burndy Library.
- Geoffrey Cantor (University of Leeds, United Kingdom). "Quakers in British Science to 1900."
- Lisa Downing (Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania). Empiricism and Newtonianism: Locke, Berkeley and the Decline of Strict Mechanism.
- Menachem Fisch (Cohn Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science, Tel Aviv University). Antithetical Knowledge: Doubles and Splits and Paradigm Shifts in Early Victorian Metascience.
- Alejandro Garciadiego (Mathematics, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico). A study of the ways in which American mathematicians such as Dirk Struik, George David Birkhoff, Garret Birkhoff,
- Solomon Lefschetz, and Norbert Wiener influenced the development of a professional mathematics community in Mexico.
- Jeremy J. Gray (Mathematics, Open University, UK). A study of philosophical and practical issues in geometry and related areas illustrating the role of modernism in mathematics; continued work on the history of differential geometry and the theory of manifolds.
- Daryl Hafter (History, Eastern Michigan University). Women's Skilled Work in France from 1776-1791: An Era of Reform and Revolution.
- Thomas Hawkins (Mathematics, Boston University). The Emergence of the Theory of Lie Groups 1867-1927: A Study in the Growth of Mathematical Knowledge.
- Klaus Hentschel (Institute for History of Science, University of Gˆttingen, Germany). Mapping the Spectrum: Techniques of Representation in their 19th and early 20th Century Research Context.
- Paul Josephson. Atomic-Powered Communism: The Cult of the Atom in the Postwar Soviet Union.
- Elaheh Kheirandish (History of Science, Harvard University). A re-examination of the Greek textual tradition of Euclidean Optics; Arabic responses to the Greek corpus; and the textual transmission of Arabic 'versions' of Euclidean visual theory.
- Patrick Malone (Urban Studies and American Civilization, Brown University). An interdisciplinary study of technology, topography, and urban development, emphasizing the role of waterfalls in the urban history of the United States and Canada.
- Herbert Mehrtens (History, Technische Universit‰t Braunschweig, Germany). An investigation of how the modernization of mathematics connects to symbolic techniques that were deployed across a broad "mathematical culture," which includes the natural and social sciences.
- Dorinda Outram (Max-Planck Institut f¸r Wissenschaftesgeschichte, Germany). Epistemology, Instrumentation, and Exploration in Enlightenment Science.
- Leonard Rosenband (History, Utah State University). Profiting from Change: Technological Transfer in 18th Century France.
- Terry Shinn (Directeur de Recherche, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France). The Rise of the American Research-Technology Community, 1920-1950.
- George Stocking, Jr. (Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Conceptual Foundations of Science, University of Chicago). Anthropology Yesterday.
- Ezio Vaccari (History, University of Genoa, Italy). A work on the classification of mountains and the idea of geohistory in the 18th century.
- Ido Yavetz (Cohn Institute, Tel Aviv University). A project on the history of research on lightning in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Dibner Institute is also pleased to announce the appointments of two Visiting Fellows:
- Anthony Grafton (History, Princeton University). A detailed case study on medical astrology in the 16th century in collaboration with Nancy Siraisi, and a continuation of his analysis of Isaac Newton's work in historical chronology.
- Nancy Siraisi (History, Hunter College and the Graduate School, City University of New York). The Relation between Astrology and Medicine in the Writings of Girolamo Cardano and Studies on Vesalius and the Classical Tradition.
The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology is pleased to announce that fellowship awards have been made to ten Ph.D. candidates enrolled in programs at Dibner Institute consortium-member institutions: the Program in Science, Technology and Society at the Dibner Institute's host institution, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the Center for Philosophy and History of Science, Boston University; the Department of History, Brandeis University; and the Department of the History of Science, Harvard University.
- Greg Clancey, MIT. A comparative study of technological change in the carpentry trades in the United States and Japan, 1900-1950, focusing on the development of American prefabricated housing methods and efforts to transfer them to Japan.
- Mary Alexandra Cooper, Harvard University. Inventing the Indigenous: Local Knowledge and Natural History in the Early Modern German Territories.
- Anne Ashley Davenport, Harvard University. A study of how late medieval theology provided the theoretical backbone for a distinctive devotional metaphysics, notably in the works of Kepler, Berulle, and Saint-Cyran.
- Karin Ellison, MIT. Changes in engineering practices and education during the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam in the State of Washington in the 1930s and the dam's impact on industrial development in the American West.
- Slava Gerovitch, MIT. Early history of Soviet cybernetics, 1952- 1964.
- Rebecca Herzig, MIT. The Word of Nations: The Idea of "Technology" in America.
- Robert Martello, MIT. An investigation of the relationship between technological change and industrialization in 18th and 19th century America and the development of ecological awareness.
- John Ongley, Boston University. Logics of Discovery.
- Thomas D. Wilson, Brandeis University. Early Modern Conceptions of Scientific Fraud: Allegations of Fabrication at the Royal Society and the Academie des Sciences, 1662-1793.
New Book Series: Animals in Philosophy and Science
The publishers of this series plan to put out three volumes every two years. The first volume will include essays on animal consciousness and animal ethics. For more information contact
Geschichte und Struktur der klassischen Genetik (1995)
Pablo Lorenzano discusses the history and philosophy of classical (formal, Mendelian) genetics. For more information contact
Die Rezeption von Evolutionstheorien im 19.Jahrhundert. Ed. Eve-Marie Engels, Frankfurt:Suhrkamp 1995, stw 1229, ISBN 3-518-28829-6, 448 pages, DM 29,80.
With contributions by Peter Bowler, Eve-Marie Engels,Stephen Gatlin, Mario di Gregorio, Joy Harvey, David Hull, Thomas Junker, Erika Krausse, Helmut Pulte, Juergen Sandmann, Nicolaas Rupke, Daniel Todes. For information contact Prof. Dr. Eve-Marie Engels, Eberhard-Karls-Universit‰t T¸bingen, Fakult‰t f¸r Biologie, Lehrstuhl f¸r Ethik in den Biowissenschaften, Sigwartstr. 20, 72076 T¸bingen, Germany.
A New System of Philosophy-Science from the Biological Standpoint
Teoman Durali, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Istanbul. Discussion of the meaning, ramification and scope of the philosophy of biology; attempts to define a potential system of philosophy-science that is based on biology and its philosophy and is aimed at answering some of the scientific, technological, moral and spiritual questions of the age. For information contact Peter Lang GmbH, Europ‰ischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, Abteilung WB, Postfach 94 02 25, DDDD-60460, Frankfurt/M.
Science as Culture
Science as Culture is a journal that explores the role of expertise in shaping the values which contend for influence over the wider society. The journal analyses how our scientific culture defines what is rational, and what is natural. SaC provides a unique, accessible forum for debate, beyond the boundaries of academic disciplines and specializations. The journal has published articles on mass-media representations of expertise, the political role of radio, human and agricultural biotechnologies, cultures of workplace automation, the metaphors central to scientific knowledge, artificial intelligence, images of the scientist in film and theatre, etc. Twenty-five issues have appeared so far.
Back issues are (British pounds sterling) L7.50 each for non-subscribers, L4.00 for subscribers; L10.75 for institutions. A list of contents of back issues is available at: http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/process_press/ index.html#science. Order from Science as Culture, 26 Freegrove Road, London N7 9RQ. Tel. +0171 607 8306; Fax. +0171 609 4837; email:
The journal is associated with an e-mail forum of the same name:
SUB SCIENCE-AS-CULTURE yourfirstname yourlastname
A web site associated with the forum holds articles from back issues of the journal, as well as submissions under consideration (not obligatory), whose authors may benefit from constructive comments for purposes of revisions before the hard copy is printed, as well as longer piece not suitable for the e-mail format which forum members may wish to discuss: http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/rmy/sac.html
A useful list of forums and sites in the history, philosophy and social studies of science, technology and medicine can be found at http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/hpsss.html.
Biotechnology Risk Regulation in Europe: Implementation of Directive 90/220
In 1990 the European Community adopted the Deliberate Release Directive 90/220 as a means to anticipate and prevent potential harm from the intentional release of genetically modified organisms. The Directive linked environmental protection with 'harmonized procedures and criteria' for approving genetically modified products across the European Community, which has since been enlarged to become the European Union (EU). For many commercial products, however, EU member states have disagreed over the basis for market approval.
During 1994-95 the efforts at implementation and harmonization were studied by a network of researchers, co-ordinated by the Open University in Britain, and funded partly by DGXII of the European Commission. Their analysis has been published as the June 1996 issue of the journal Science amd Public Policy. Les Levidow and Susan Carr served as guest editors for that special issue, entitled 'Biotechnology Risk Regulation in Europe'. It features a lengthy overview of the European Union plus short articles on eight member states.
To purchase copies of the journal (or subscriptions), please contact the publisher via e-mail:
MEMBERSHIP AND RENEWAL INFORMATION
Anyone interested in joining ISHPSSB (pronounced "IshKabibble") can contact Society secretary
Graduate students qualify for a reduced membership fee -- only $5 (pets join for free!) Otherwise a one-year regular membership is $15 USD; a two-year membership is $25 USD.
Membership forms are also available by contacting ISHPSSB student representative
Renewing members Here is a simple 3-step procedure for renewing your ISHPSSB membership. All of this can be done electronically by accessing the Society's Website, where the Application/Renewal/Payment of Dues Form lives in its electronic version.
Step 1. Look at the mailing label on your newsletter. Check the "Dues Paid Through 19xx" part. If the date is 1997 or later, your dues are paid. If the date is 1996, you may renew your membership now or wait until the end of the year to renew. If the date there is 1995 or earlier, you owe us money. Get out your checkbook or credit card. (Steady now.) Fill out the Application/Renewal/Payment of Dues Form enclosed with this newsletter. Make the appropriate marks in your checkbook or record the appropriate credit card numbers on the form, and return the form (with payment) to the ISHPSSB Secretary.
Step 2. If you think the information we have in our membership files is out of date (email addresses seem especially volatile), please provide us with the new information, using the same Membership Renewal Form. Mail (or email) it back to the ISHPSSB Secretary.
Step 3. Think about whether you wouldn't rather have this stylish document, the IshKabibble Newsletter, sent to you electronically. If so, indicate this on the Application/ Renewal/Payment of Dues Form. If you want to subscribe to the Society's email list (for monthly announcements and virtual general meetings in the in-between years) indicate that as well. Mail (or email) this information to the ISHPSSB Secretary.
ISHPSSB Secretary
A note from the Webmeister on sending money through cyberspace: Sending credit card numbers through cyberspace (email or web material) is relatively safe (as safe as the postal service, maybe safer), since everything is automatically encrypted.
CONTRIBUTIONS FOR FALL 1996 NEWSLETTER
The next issue of the Ishkabibble newsletter will be published in Fall 1996. Please forward contributions prior to October 15 1996 to:
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Last updated: 2 September 1996.