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Vol. 41, No. 4, October 2012
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News From the Profession

Dissertations in the History of Science and Medicine

The most recent dissertations pertaining to the history of science and medicine from the August 2010 volumes of Dissertation Abstracts can be viewed online. Repeat visitors will notice a change in formatting—this is the new ProQuest platform—so there are no more short versions but the abstracts do give you all the bibliographic information that you will need.

Go Ask A.L.I.C.E: Turing Tests, Parlor Games, & Chatterbots

"Can machines think?" This was the question Alan Turing posed in his influential 1950 paper, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence." In order to answer this question, Turing proposed a parlor game in which an interrogator would converse with two individuals, trying to determine which was the human and which the computer. If the interrogator mistook the computer for the human, that computer could be said to "think."

This exhibit explores the strange afterlife of the Turing Test as it has circulated in popular, scientific, and commercial cultures. It reexamines elements of Turing's own interactions with humans and machines, later imaginations of thinking machines, as well as a famous attempt to translate Turing's parlor game into a real test of artificial intelligence: the Loebner Competition. Visitors to the exhibit will be invited to act as the interrogator in an instantiation of a Turing Test featuring the AI program A.L.I.C.E. Turing's elegant formulation of the problem of machine thought is here refracted into a complex array of relationships between humans and machines.

Financial support for this exhibition was generously provided by the David P. Wheatland Charitable Trust. Curated by Sophia Roosth, Stephanie Dick, and James Bergman. Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University. 11 September to 20 December, 2012. Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.

Science in Print, Essays on the History of Science and the Culture of Print

The University of Wisconsin Press is pleased to announce the publication of Science in Print: Essays on the History of Science and the Culture of Print edited by Rima D. Apple, Gregory J. Downey, and Stephen L. Vaughn and foreword by James A. Secord.

Science in Print is a wide-ranging exploration of the historical relationship between print culture and the production of scientific knowledge. Ever since the threads of seventeenth-century natural philosophy began to coalesce into an understanding of the natural world, printed artifacts such as laboratory notebooks, research journals, college textbooks, and popular paperbacks have been instrumental to the development of what we think of today as "science." But just as the history of science involves more than recording discoveries, so too does the study of print culture extend beyond the mere cataloguing of books. In both disciplines, researchers attempt to comprehend how social structures of power, reputation, and meaning permeate both the written record and the intellectual scaffolding through which scientific debate takes place.

Science in Print brings together scholars from the fields of print culture, environmental history, science and technology studies, medical history, and library and information studies. The book paints a picture of those tools and techniques of printing, publishing, and reading that shaped the ideas and practices that grew into modern science, from the days of the Royal Society of London in the late 1600s to the beginning of the modern U.S. environmental movement in the early 1960s. Publication of this volume has been made possible, in part, through generous support from the following departments and units at the University of Wisconsin–Madison: the General Library System; the School of Library and Information Studies; the School of Journalism and Mass Communication; and the Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies. For more information, please visit http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/4919.htm

CHFM Obtains G. Gayle Stephens, M.D. Collection

The Center for the History of Family Medicine (CHFM) has obtained a significant new donation in the form of the papers of G. Gayle Stephens, M.D. Widely regarded as one of the pioneering leaders in the specialty, Dr. Stephens was the founding director of one of the nation's first Family Practice residency programs in Wichita, Kansas, and was instrumental in the formation of a residency program at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

A prolific writer and recognized scholar in the specialty, Dr. Stephens' 1982 book The Intellectual Basis of Family Medicine has been hailed by many as one of the most influential works on Family Medicine ever written. According to family physician and Family Medicine scholar Dr. Joseph E. Scherger, "the history of family practice has been chronicled by many writers, notably John Geyman and Robert Taylor, but the clearest description of the theoretical basis of the new specialty belongs to Gayle Stephens. Always a humble man from Kansas who counted his blessings as a witness to history, Gayle became the towering voice for family practice as a reform specialty within medicine."

The G. Gayle Stephens, M.D. Collection at CHFM consists of approximately four linear feet of material relating to Dr. Stephens' career and service in Family Medicine, and includes correspondence and professional papers, published and unpublished works, speeches, awards and other materials. His collection also includes files related to his work establishing residency programs in Wichita and Huntsville.

The donation, a generous gift to the Center from Dr. Stephens, is one of the most significant major collections from a past leader in the specialty to be donated to the Center in its more than two decades of operation. "As one of the premier leaders in the specialty, we are very excited to receive the papers of Dr. Stephens and include them in our permanent collections," said CHFM Manager Don Ivey. "I cannot emphasize enough how important preserving these papers will be to the future; in fact, I don't believe that we could truly tell the story of the history of the specialty of Family Medicine in America without them."

Housed at AAFP headquarters and administered by the AAFP Foundation, the Center for the History of Family Medicine serves as the principal resource center for the collection, conservation, exhibition and study of materials relating to the history of Family Medicine in the United States. For more information on the Center, please contact Center staff via telephone at 1-800-274-2237 (ext. 4420 or 4422), via fax at (913) 906-6095, via e-mail at chfm@aafp.org, or visit the CHFM web site.

National Humanities Alliance Names New Executive Director

Stephen Kidd has been named Executive Director of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA), a coalition of more than 100 humanities organizations and institutions from around the country committed to advocacy for the humanities (HSS is a coalition member). Kidd comes to the Alliance most recently from the Smithsonian Institution, where he served as Director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Associate Director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Kidd's appointment as Executive Director of the National Humanities Alliance became effective 4 September 2012.

Michael Brintnall, President of the NHA, said that the Alliance is delighted to bring on Stephen as the new director. He said, "Stephen Kidd stands out as a scholar with a practiced understanding of the connections between humanities scholarship and public life. He comes to us with experience and with respect from all of the constituencies important to our mission, and with a driving commitment to the values we share about how advancing the humanities can advance the common good."

Throughout his career, Kidd has focused on bringing humanities scholarship to both broad public audiences and policymakers. As Director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, he managed one of the largest public humanities events in the United States. Known as the Smithsonian's museum without walls, the Festival presents three major, research-based thematic exhibitions on the National Mall during a two-week period each summer. The Festival draws more than one million visitors per year with an annual budget of $5 million. As Director, Kidd forged partnerships with ministries of culture, institutions of higher education, museums, and community-based organizations; represented the Festival's interests on Capitol Hill; raised millions of dollars in funds from diverse sources; oversaw research committees; and represented the scholarship of the exhibitions to a wide range of audiences. Kidd said, "I am looking forward to working with our members involved in research, education, preservation, and public programs to make the case for increased support during these challenging times."

Kidd graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in American History and minor in English. He received M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in American Studies from George Washington University. He also studied Irish history and literature at University College, Galway, Ireland. Stephen and his wife Nancy live in Maryland with their two children.

A New Permanent Exhibit at the Lloyd Library and Museum (LLM)

"The George Rieveschl, Jr. History of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Exhibit" is LLM's new permanent exhibit. It features a patented Lloyd Cold Still built in Cincinnati and used at the University of Michigan and at AYSL Corporation; significant components of the Soxhlet extractor used by Drs. Monroe Wall and Mansukh Wani to isolate the anti-cancer drug Taxol® at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina; and, culminates with a look at the anti-allergen drug, Benadryl® and its creator, local Cincinnati scientist and philanthropist, George Rieveschl, Jr. The exhibit also includes smaller historic pharmaceutical and chemical equipment from local companies Lloyd Brothers, Pharmacists, Inc. and Benet's Pharmacy.
This exhibit was made possible through the generous support of: The George Rieveschl, Jr. Book Fund; American Chemical Society-Cincinnati Chapter; American Society of Pharmacognosy Foundation; Elizabeth Wakeman Henderson Foundation, AYSL Corporation, Research Triangle Institute; LLM's Friends and Donors; Anonymous, Camden Foundation, In Memory of the Grabowski Family; Brian Hanson; and Benet's Pharmacy.

In conjunction with the opening of this exhibit is a rare books exhibit "The Magic and Myth of Alchemy," which runs through 17 November 2012. The featured historical texts on alchemy illustrate how the discipline helped develop the modern chemistry laboratory and fostered the scientific methods and pursuit of miracle cures that have aided in the development of today's pharmaceutical chemistry.

LLM, located at 917 Plum Street, downtown Cincinnati, is a local and regional cultural treasure. The library was developed in the nineteenth century by the Lloyd brothers-John Uri, Curtis Gates, and Nelson Ashley to provide reference sources for Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, Inc., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of the period. Today the library is recognized worldwide by the scientific community as a vital research center. The library holds, acquires, and provides access to both historic and current materials on the subjects of pharmacy, botany, horticulture, herbal and alternative medicine, pharmacognosy, and related topics. Although our collections have a scientific focus, they also have relevance to humanities topics, such as visual arts and foreign languages through resources that feature botanical and natural history illustrations, original artworks, and travel literature, thereby revealing the convergence of science and art. The Lloyd is open to anyone with an interest in these topics. Free parking is available for patrons and visitors behind the library building. For more information, visit the Lloyd website.

Bateson and Darlington Blog

Following a grant from the Wellcome Trust, the John Innes Centre has established a project to produce on-line catalogues of some of its major archive collections. The JIC archives date back to before the foundation of the original John Innes Horticultural Institution at Merton in 1910. The archives of two key figures in the development of genetics science, William Bateson (1861-1926) and Cyril Darlington (1903-1981), both Directors of the JIHI, are the focus of the Project. A blog has been set up to provide information about the Project and to highlight letters and papers of significant interest. The blog address is http://archives.jic.ac.uk/

New Searching Capabilities for Online Oral Histories

Niels Bohr Library and Archives staff have just added an important new search feature to AIP's online oral histories. Users can now search for any word they wish to find across all of the online transcripts. This enables researchers to more easily locate interviews that pertain to their area of research. For example, someone researching the "atomic bomb" will find 158 interviews (out of about 770 online) that mention this term somewhere in the interview. Similarly, there are 37 hits for "star wars," and six for "Higgs." The search results are sorted by relevance, so interviews with more occurrences of the search term will appear at the top of the search results.

Staffs continue to add transcripts to the website on a regular basis and have added audio clips for Bryce S. DeWitt, John Bardeen, Richard Garwin, and others. Of note—the Richard Feynman interview, added to the online collection in March, has quickly become the most popular of all our online oral histories. For further information, visit http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/transcripts.html.

Plenary Lectures from the 14th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science are Available Online

The plenary lectures from the 14th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, held in Nancy, France, 19-26 July, 2011, are now online.

They are classified by days and include: Opening ceremony, Wilfrid Hodges, DLMPS, "Tarski's vision and ours"; Huw Price, "Retrocausality—what would it take?"; Philippe Mongin, "What the decision theorist could tell the Bayesian philosopher"; Marco de Baar, "Engineering technical artifacts and scientific instruments"; Jeremy Gray, "The soul of the fact: Poincare and proof"; and Dag Prawitz, "Is there a general concept of proof?".

When possible, presentation slides were inserted in the videos. Please also note that a small photos gallery is available, presenting a few Congress pictures, and a virtual exposition of twenty three Congress participants' portraits, accompanied with their comments on their work and the Congress.

Project for Popularizing the History of Science

With the 150th anniversary of Darwin in 2009, a project was begun that consisted of the publication of comic books for children that explored the activities of scientists of the past. The goal was not to focus on the usual topics but rather to place the scientific activity in its historical context, using works and biographies written by professional historians of science. Unfortunately, funding originally planned by the Spanish Council for Scientific Research could not be secured due to economic conditions. Thus, the editorial board of the project is trying to carry on with the project and is searching for economic support to print and distribute the works. The idea is to begin the series with an issue on Darwin, followed by books on Galileo, Newton, Marie Curie, etc. For those willing to collaborate, please see the following links:

NSF Moves Programs Out of the Office of the Director

According to the Consortium of Social Science Association's "Washington Update," National Science Foundation (NSF) director Subra Suresh announced a small reorganization on September 6. The move streamlines the Office of the Director. The Office of Cyberinfrastructure moved into the Computer Information Science and Engineering Directorate. The Office of Polar Programs will now reside in the Geosciences Directorate. The Office of Integrative Activities and the Office of International Science and Engineering will become one office.

CHF Announces New Fellows

The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) in Philadelphia is very pleased to announce its 2012-2013 class of fellows. We are glad to welcome them, in our 25th year of awarding fellowships in the history of science, and are thankful to our almost 200 alumni who have made up our fellowship community over the past 25 years.

Cain Distinguished Fellow (4 months in residence)

Jan Golinski (University of New Hampshire)

Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellows (9-months in residence unless otherwise specified)

Benjamin Gross (CHF), Cain Fellow: "The Engineer's Toolkit: Passive Components and the American Electronics Industry"
Laura Ann Kalba (Smith College), Edelstein Fellow: "Color in the Age of Impressionism: Technology, Commerce, and Art"
Mat Savelli (McMaster University, Canada), Haas Fellow: "A Comparative History of Psychopharmaceutical Print Advertising"
Adelheid Voskuhl (Harvard University), Doan Fellow (5 months): "Engineering as Institution: Technical and Technocratic Elites in Germany and the US, 1870 to 1935"

Long-Term Dissertation Fellows (9 months in residence)

Ian Beamish (Johns Hopkins University), Haas Fellow: "Saving the South: Printing Agricultural Improvement in the American South, 1820–1865"
Deanna Day (University of Pennsylvania), Price Fellow: "98.6: Fevers, Fertility, and the Patient Labor of American Medicine"
Joel Klein (Indiana University), Edelstein Fellow: "Chymistry, Corpuscular Medicine, and Controversy: The Ideas and Influence of Daniel Sennert (1572–1637)"
David Singerman (MIT), Haas Fellow: "An Empire of Purity: Making the Modern Sugar Market, 1875–1925"

Short-Term Fellows

Andrew Butrica (Independent Scholar), Doan Fellow (2 months): "Jean-Baptiste Dumas: Promoter of Chemical Industry"
Ari Gross (University of Toronto, Canada), Allington Fellow (3 months): "Structure and Spatiality: Chemical Diagrams and Models and the Birth of Stereochemistry"
Lijing Jiang (Arizona State University), Allington Fellow (2 months): "Degeneration in Miniature: History of Cell Death and Aging Research in the Twentieth Century"
Victoria Lee (Princeton University), Ullyot Scholar (3 months): "Synthetic Fermentation and Applied Biology in Japan, 1910–1960"
Max Liboiron (New York University), Allington Fellow (2 months): "Transforming Pollution: Ocean Plastics and Body Burdens"
Catherine Price (Freelance Journalist), Société de Chimie Industrielle Fellow (3 months): "Fortified: The Secret Science of Food"
Ann Robinson (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Herdegen Fellow (1 month): "Creating a Symbol of Science: The Standard Periodic Table of the Elements"
Ellan Spero (MIT), Allington Fellow (3 months): "Production and Place, Textile Science and Education in a Technological Landscape"

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