Buch, Englisch, 320 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 515 g
Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology
Buch, Englisch, 320 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 515 g
Reihe: Monographs on the History and Philosophy of Biology
ISBN: 978-0-19-511143-9
Verlag: Oxford University Press
Molecular biology as a distinct scientific discipline had its origins in chemistry and physical biochemistry, gradually emerging in the period between 1930 and the elucidation of DNA in the mid 1950s. Today this field has risen to a dominant position, and with its focus on deciphering genetic structure, it has endowed scientists with unprecedented power over life. In this fascinating study, however, Lily Kay argues that molecular biology did not "evolve" in a random fashion but, rather, was the result of systematic efforts by key scientists and their supporting foundations to direct the development of biological research toward a preconceived vision of science and society. The author traces and analyses the conceptual roots of molecular biology and the social matrix in which it was developed, focusing on the role of leading researchers headquartered at Caltech, and on the Rockefeller Foundation's sponsorship of the new science. The study thus explores a number of vital, sometimes controversial topics, among them the role of private power centres in shaping the scientific agenda, the political aspects of "pure" research, and how genetic engineering was envisioned by some as a potential tool for social intervention. This book will be of special interest to all molecular biologists, as well as historians and sociologists of science. However the story told has broad significance, and it is written in an accessible, nontechnical manner, fully understandable to general readers.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
- Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
- Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Angewandte Informatik Bioinformatik
- Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Genetik und Genomik (nichtmedizinisch)
- Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Botanik Pflanzenreproduktion, Verbreitung, Genetik
- Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
- Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Proteinforschung
- Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Human- und Sozialwissenschaften
- Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Angewandte Biologie Bioinformatik
- Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Tierkunde / Zoologie Tiergenetik, Reproduktion
- Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Molekularbiologie
