International Society for the History,
Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology
NEWSLETTER
Editor:
Chris Young • 1316 North Astor Street • Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
USA • cyoung@aero.net
Fall
2001 Twenty-fourth Issue (Volume 13, No. 2)
Successful Meeting
in USA Offers Promise of ISHPSSB
President's
SemiAnnual Report November 2001
Lindley
Darden
The
ISHPSSB 2001 meeting at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, continued
the tradition of successful summer meetings in delightful settings. There were
221 registrants from 23 countries. It was a pleasure to see old friends and
meet new ones from around the world, as we gathered in the evening twilight for
the reception in the quad surrounded by modern brick buildings, with the
sleeping giant on the horizon.
First,
thanks goes to all the organizers of sessions and the speakers for the
intellectually exciting, diverse, interdisciplinary program. Thanks to Douglas
Allchin, who chaired the Program Committee, along with its members, Jay
Aronson, Michael Dietrich, Elihu Gerson, Christiane Groeben, Pam Henson, Jane
Maienschein, and Sergio Martinez, for all that they did to make the program
such a success. I always want to go to all the sessions, something that never
happens at any other society's meeting. I enjoyed the innovation of round-table
discussions on Sunday; we had a lively group discussing mechanisms (one of my
favorite topics these days).
The
attractive, quiet Quinnipiac campus was an ideal setting; we owe many thanks to
Kathy Cooke and David Valone, our hosts, for the myriad tasks they completed
with efficiency and good humor to arrange all the details. Lobsters at the
banquet! A first in my memory!
Memories
also include standing under a dinosaur head at the Peabody Museum, munching on
shrimp. Thanks to Bill Summers and others at Yale for the visual and gustatory
pleasures of that evening reception
Registration
went well, in the capable hands of Keith Benson, our Treasurer and Chris Young,
our Secretary, aided by Vivette Garcia Deister. Keith and Chris are extremely
helpful as I learn about the workings of the Society. In no small part, their
long hours and hard work keep this Society functioning.
Congratulations
to Rasmus Winther, Indiana University, for his paper "August Weismann on
Germ-Plasm Variation," which won the Marjorie Grene Prize. Thanks to Ron
Amundson and Dave Rudge, who served on the committee, and to Phil Pauly, who
chaired and made an eloquent presentation of the award.
Finally,
thanks to those retiring from the jobs they've held: we appreciate all the work
of Lisa Lloyd, as Past-President, on the elections, Dick Burian, who so ably
guided the business of the Society as President, 1999-2001, and retiring
Council members, Walter Bock, Marilia Coutinho, Cor van der Weele, and student
representative, Leon Martinez.
We
welcome newly elected Council Members Ana Barahona, Christiane Groeben,
Hans-Joerg Rheinberger, and Graduate Student Representative, Terry Sullivan.
They join continuing members, Jane Maienschein, Gregg Mitman, and Lenny Moss.
Pamela Henson, as the Society's archivist, serves as an ex officio member of
the Council. One of the roles of the President-Elect is to have "reality
checks" with the President. Dick Burian and I met in Washington, D.C.'s
Chinatown, before the meetings of the area philosophy of biology discussion
group. Michael Dietrich, the new President-Elect, suggested that we have our
reality checks in Paris. As time and money haven't yet allowed that, we're
making do for the present with email chats. Wherever we meet, I look forward to
working with all the many volunteers that contribute to this Society's
activities. Many thanks for all that they do, and will do, to continue the
successful operations of the Society.
ISHPSSB
2003 WILL BE IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA, JULY 16-20. Our hosts will be Werner Callebaut
and Gerd Mueller of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition
Research (KLI). The meetings will take place at the Vienna University campus.
See the Society's web page for pictures and preliminary information. MARK YOUR
CALENDARS NOW. Rob Skipper, Program Chair, and the Program Committee have
already started discussing preliminary plans.
ISHPSSB
2005 will be at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. David Castle will be
our host. The dates have not yet been set. If any members know of conflicts in
July of 2005, please let me know.
Now
let me say a bit about what the Society has been doing since Quinnipiac.
Off-year
Workshops
The
Council debated a proposal to sponsor workshops in the off-years, when the
regular biennial meetings do not occur. We had open and frank discussions
(diplomats use that language when there is lots of disagreement). Some of the
reasons in favor of the proposal: to encourage more activities by Society's
members, in smaller groups, focused on a theme, in a regional location more
accessible to graduate students and local scholars; some of the arguments
against it: the Society should direct its efforts to support of the biennial
meetings and not stretch its resources too thinly or risk decreasing attendance
at those meetings. After a full airing of opinions, a majority of the Council
voted to approve an experiment of sponsoring workshops in even-numbered years
on an ad hoc basis. We agreed that these workshops must be thematic in nature,
which will distinguish them from the regular ISHPSSB meetings. Chris Young
chaired the Off-Year Workshop Committee. They developed guidelines for
applications and an approval process. The Society does not provide funding, but
it will provide the Society's mailing list of members and publicity about the
workshop through the Society's email list and web page. Details are on the
Society's web page. The email list announced the deadline of October 10, 2001,
for applications for 2002. No applications were received. Members are
encouraged to consider submitting proposals for 2004.
Email
List and Web Page
Roberta
Millstein has ably taken over as moderator of the Society's email list from
Chris Young, who managed it well for several years. See a report from Roberta
on a recent survey of the list users. If you aren't subscribed, you should do
so to get the latest messages about Society activities and general information
on topics related to the Society. Mike Dietrich is coordinating the requests
for changes to the web site, which he consolidates and sends to Valerie
Hardcastle, who has, happily, agreed to continue as the web master. Students
should check out the new student bulletin board. Various new features for the
web site are in the works, so visit often to see what is available: http://www.phil.vt.edu/ISHPSSB/
Financial
Report
Keith
Benson, Treasurer, has prepared actual and projected budgets for the Society.
The good news is that the Society has funds and is on a sound financial basis
at this time. However, travel to Vienna will be expensive for some graduate
students, so please contribute to the graduate student travel fund, either from
the web page or directly to Keith Benson.
Membership
Renewal Letter
Chris
Young organized an effort to encourage renewals of memberships from 380
delinquent members. I signed a reminder letter and Chris organized graduate
students for the tasks of folding, stamping and mailing. Thanks to Terry
Sullivan, the Graduate Representative on the Council, for rallying the troops
for this task. If your dues aren't up to date, please send them along promptly.
Your dues are paid through the date appearing on the mailing label of this
Newsletter.
Committee
Appointments
A
task that has taken about two months to complete is the appointment of members
to the ISHPSSB standing committees. The chairs and members are listed on page
10 of this Newsletter. You can expect to hear more from them as they began
their work. Thanks so much to all who have agreed to serve. Feel free to
contact me or the chair of a committee if you wish to discuss matters related
to a committee's activities.
Comments
Solicited
I
welcome your comments and suggestions for improving the Society's activities and
meetings. Please contact me using the information on the back page of this
Newsletter
ISHPSSB
Prepares for 2003 Meeting
Vienna,
Austria, July 16-20, 2003
Werner
Callebaut callebaut@kla.univie.ac.at>
As
was officially announced at Quinnipiac, the next meeting of our Society will be
held in Vienna, Austria, in mid-July 2003, at the invitation of the Konrad
Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI) and the University
of Vienna. Our local hosts are Werner Callebaut, who is the scientific manager
of the KLI, and Gerd Mueller, who chairs the KLI Board and is a professor at
the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Vienna. The KLI welcomes you to
visit its homepage.
Vienna,
the city of classical music and many important modern intellectual and cultural
developments, needs little recommendation. Being clean, green, and safe, and
ranking very high in most other dimensions of quality of life as well, it is a
preferred location for conference venues. Located in the very heart of Europe,
Vienna can be reached easily by aircraft, train, or car. The Viennese public
transport network ranks among the best in the world. In addition to enjoying
the city's own cultural riches, conference participants may want to visit other
historical cities such as Prague (Czech Republic), Budapest (Hungary), or
Cracow (Poland), which can all be reached from Vienna within a few hours; or
they may prefer a hiking tour in the nearby Alps.
The meetings will take place at the
Vienna University Campus. The campus is located centrally, in the recently
renovated historic city hospital complex. The campus is within walking distance
from many hotels and "Studentenheime" (dorms) and offers a nice array
of restaurants and pubs.
The
Local Arrangements Committee is chaired by Dolores Schuetz, who can be contacted
at the KLI: dolores.schuetz@kla.univie.ac.at;
snail mail: KLI, Adolf-Lorenz-Gasse 2, 3422 Altenberg, Austria; tel.:
2242-32390; fax: 2242-32390-4.
Useful
URLs:
Vienna University
Campus (in German)
Vienna online, The City of Vienna's
Web Service
Additional
information about venue, accommodation, etc. will be provided in due course.
Ever-helpful
Dave Valone (left) pointed folks, including Larry Holmes, in the right
direction throughout the meeting.
Thank You
to Graduate Student Volunteers
The
following graduate students, under the coordination of Terry Sullivan,
performed the invaluable task of folding Lindley's membership renewal request
letter, sealing the envelopes (with the icky-tasting glue), and affixing
address labels and postage. Letters were sent to 380 members who have not
renewed their membership in recent years. So far, numerous members have
renewed. Others will be dropped to reduce our mailing costs. Graduate students
benefit from this effort, because a portion of our membership dues goes toward
funding their travel to meetings. So again, thank you to Mark Russell (Science
and Technology Studies, Virginia Tech); John S. Emrich (Center for History of
Recent Science, George Washington University); Scott Thomson (Science and
Technology Studies, Virginia Tech); Jason Zinser (Department of Philosophy,
Florida State University); Ken Reisman (Department of Philosophy, Stanford
University); and Terry Sullivan (University of Wisconsin-Madison).
Membership
Renewal Information
If
the date on your mailing label on this Newsletter does not read 2002 or later,
you need to renew your membership!
If
you would like to remain on our list, please take one of the following two
steps:
1)
Renew your membership
online.
2)
Return the form found on page 14 of this Newsletter to Keith Benson (address on
the form).
When
you renew, you will continue to receive the ISHPSSB Newsletter. You will be eligible
for substantial discounts from leading journals in history, philosophy, and
social studies of biology (see details on the Society website or contact Keith
Benson), including:
Metascience ($45/yr)
Journal
of the History of Biology ($52/year)
Biology
and Philosophy ($58/year)
Studies
in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences ($33/yr)
History
and Philosophy of the Life Sciences ($121 or £73/yr)
Members
will also be able to register for our biennial meetings without additional
charge. You will not be asked for renewal for two full years.
Please
do not pass up the opportunity to be part of the most vibrant interdisciplinary
community of science studies scholars in the world. Thank you.
Attention
Graduate Students
Terry
Sullivan
My
name is Terry Sullivan and until 2003 I will be the ISHPSSB student
representative. I entered graduate school at the University of Utah but have
recently moved to the University of Wisconsin - Madison to finish my Ph.D. in
philosophy. I am particularly interested in what biology can and cannot tell us
about the human mind.
I
would like to take this opportunity to make graduate students aware of a number
of things that make being an active student member of ISHPSSB a unique
experience. First, society members have been very generous in the past in
contributing towards a travel fund for students. This generosity saw
significant assistance being given to all those students who presented papers
at the Society's meeting in Quinnipiac earlier this year. This is a fairly
unique level of assistance, and I encourage students to take up the
opportunities it provides.
Second,
graduate students should also be aware of ISHPSSB's Marjorie Grene Prize. The
prize is intended to advance the careers of younger scholars and is 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. Previously the award has consisted of a certificate and substantial
financial help in attending the meeting of the Society.
Finally,
there are currently a growing number of graduate students involved in playing a
key role in ISHPSSB and if you would like to join them please contact me
Also,
check out the new Student Bulletin site at the ISHPSSB homepage for information
and announcements particularly relevant to student members of the society.
ISHPSSB
Listserv (ISHPSB-L) Finds New Moderator
Roberta
Millstein
Those
of you who are already on the ISHPSSB email list already know me (or my email
address anyway) as your new list moderator. For those of you who are not on the
list, I encourage you to join. You will receive timely information about
upcoming ISHPSSB events and other relevant materials (more on this below).
Chris
Young, who got the list up and running and moderated it capably for several
years, will remain ISHPSSB Secretary. He is providing me with invaluable
assistance in this time of transition. He may be reached at cyoung@aero.net in relation to membership
issues, the timeline of Society activities and events, publicity for meetings,
job postings, and publications, as well as questions about who to contact for
further information. Thanks to Chris for running the list for all these years
and for all of his hard work for the Society.
My
primary goal as moderator is to make sure that the listserv is serving the
Society's needs. To that end, members of the list filled out a short survey,
the results of which appear below, followed by some brief recommendations based
on those results. I welcome any comments that you might have on these
recommendations. Also, please feel free to email me at any time concerning
suggestions for the list or to let me know of any problems that you may
encounter. My email address is rmillstein@csuhayward.edu.
Directions
for Subscribing
Send
an email message to: LISTSERV@tc.umn.edu
with
the following in the body of the message:
SUBSCRIBE
ISHPSB-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname
For
example, if your name were Gregor Mendel:
SUBSCRIBE
ISHPSB-L Gregor Mendel
Directions
for Unsubscribing
Send
an email message to: LISTSERV@tc.umn.edu
with
the following in the body of the message:
SIGNOFF
ISHPSB-L
Members
Gather to Remember, Plan, and Show Appreciation
Minutes:
ISHPSSB 2001 General Meeting
Dick
Burian, presiding
61
members in attendance
Agenda
item: Motion to suspend the rules
A
motion to suspend the rules was passed.
Agenda
item: Announcements and introductions
A
public thanks was made to Kathy Cooke and Dave Valone (local arrangements co-chairs),
for their work at Quinnipiac University. A public thanks was made to Bill
Summers for the upcoming reception at the Peabody Museum at Yale University,
and details for transportation were explained. Graduate students were asked to
meet to elect a student representative to the council. A moment of silence was
observed for our deceased colleagues including Gerald Geison.
Agenda
item: Reading of the minutes of the 1999 meeting in Oaxaca
A
motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes was passed. A request for
pre-circulation of minutes before a meeting was made and it was agreed that
this is a desirable practice.
Agenda
item: Reports from committees and officers
Site
selection
Lindley
Darden (president-elect and chair of the site selection committee) presented
the report of the Site Selection Committee and thanked its members: Jane
Maienschein and Walter Bock, with help from Dick Burian, Keith Benson, Ron
Amundson, Rachel Ankeny, and Manfred Laubichler (report attached). ISHPSSB will
meet in Vienna in 2003 (July 16-20) and in Guelph in 2005 (dates to be
arranged). Details of
the process were outlined, including the presence of guidelines on the society
website.
Proposals
for future meetings are welcome. The society is moving to a four-year cycle,
where sites for the next two meetings will be decided, and each subsequent site
chosen four years in advance. It is anticipated that within the next decade we
may receive bids from some or all of the following countries: Italy; Germany;
Sweden; Australia; Canada (Dalhousie); and Japan; as well as the following US
cities: Notre Dame, Indiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Cincinnati, Ohio.
Werner
Callebaut (local arrangements 2003) expressed pleasure at the prospect of
welcoming ISHPSSB members to Vienna and spoke briefly about the political
conditions in Austria. The host institute will be the Konrad Lorenz Institute
for Evolution and Cognition Research and the site will be the Vienna University
campus.
David
Castle (local arrangements 2005) welcomed the opportunity to host ISHPSSB at
Guelph. Details of plans will be forthcoming when the time gets a little
closer.
Operations
committee
Lindley
reported that the society is operating rather smoothly and thanked the
committee for their input: Ana Barahona, Keith Benson, Nathaniel Comfort,
Michael Dietrich, Jane Maienschein, Phil Sloan. An offer from a press to
publish the proceedings of the meetings was declined due to cost and the
difficulty coordinating the program with sufficient lead time. No revisions to
the by laws are currently being considered since there is nothing egregious
enough to require revision at present. Regional or off-year meetings will be
discussed by a subcommittee of the council. The operations committee is
soliciting volunteers to serve in various capacities.
Program
committee
Douglas
Allchin (program chair 2001) thanked members of the committee: Jay Aronson,
Michael Dietrich, Elihu Gerson, Christiane Groeben, Pam Henson, Jane
Maienschein, and Sergio Martinez. Presenters at this meeting came from 20
different countries and sixty percent also presented at the meeting in Oaxaca.
Introduction
of journal editors
Editors
representing several journals in the fields of history, philosophy, and social
studies of biology were introduced, and details of the session on journal
publication, organized by Anne Mylott, were explained.
Grene
Prize award committee
Phil
Pauly thanked the other members of the committee, Dave Rudge and Ron Amundson,
and described the winning paper, written by Rasmus Winther, Indiana University.
Travel
award committee
Keith
Benson (treasurer) announced that every graduate student requesting travel
funds was granted.
Treasurer's
report
Keith
emphasized the importance of all members paying regular dues. Kathy Cooke and
Dave Valone were thanked for their work on local arrangements. Chris Young was
thanked for assistance with the membership list. Colleagues in Oaxaca were
thanked for the many ways they contributed to making the meeting there in 1999
a success, including independent fundraising that provided for travel of
students from Latin America, audio/visual equipment, accessibility ramps in
meeting buildings, and receptions, in excess of $7000. A report showing the
current balance of the ISHPSSB accounts was presented (attached). Discussion of
ending newsletter printing and mailing included suggestion of going to
electronic formats and the need to reach an audience that is not connected to
the internet.
Secretary's
report
Chris
Young (secretary) reiterated the need to have members pay dues promptly and
noted that the society does not have a staff to regularly remind members. The need
to balance between the lower cost of internet communication and the wider
accessibility of printed and mailed communications was also restated.
Education
committee
Peter
Taylor (education chair) thanked committee members and reported on a successful
pre-conference workshop on education, attended by twenty participants. Future
workshops are planned and interested organizers should feel welcome to propose
topics. A lunch discussion of education was planned. Links to the ISHPSSB
website detail additional education initiatives.
Nominations
and elections
Lisa
Lloyd (past president) expressed appreciation to council members and announced
the following election results: President Elect, Michael Dietrich; Treasurer,
Keith Benson; Secretary, Chris Young; Program Officer, Rob Skipper; Council
(2001-2005), Ana Barahona, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, and the winner of a tie
vote taken at this meeting by secret ballot. Christiane Groeben was determined
to be the winner of that tie-breaker after the meeting adjourned.
Agenda
item: New business
Chris
Smith voiced a concern over the alternation of meeting locations. The society's
intention to alternate between North America and sites outside North America
was reiterated by Dick Burian.
Peter
Taylor moved to have the society kept better informed of operations by having
the president provide semi-annual reports, published in the Newsletter. The
motion was seconded and passed by a show of hands. Motion: "The general
membership requests the president to produce semi-annual reports of completed
council and executive tasks and plans for tasks ahead. These reports shall be
disseminated through the listserv and the newsletters."
Rob
Skipper (program chair 2003) welcomed volunteers to serve on the program
committee and especially encouraged sociologists to participate.
Meeting
adjourned.
Thank
you to everyone who attended the General Meeting. Your input and participation
ensure the successful operation of our Society.
On the steps of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. Left
to right: Betty Smocovitis, Phil Pauly, Nancy Slack, Toby Appel, Kim Kleinman,
Sherrie Lyons, and Pam Henson. Photo by Dave Valone and Sasha Cooke Valone.
Dibner
Invites Scholars to Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Travel
Funding Available from Alwyne Wheeler Bursary
Dibner
Seminar in History of Biology
The
Business of Life: Life Science and Industry in the 20th Century
Marine
Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
May
15-22, 2002
The
Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology announces its
Seminar in the History of Biology, to be held from the evening of May 15
through the morning of May 22, 2002, at the Marine Biological Laboratory in
Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This year's seminar will examine the history of
collaborations between academic and industrial life scientists.
Throughout
the past century such collaborations have been commonplace, giving rise to many
new agricultural and medical products. The technologies that have arisen from
these collaborations have transformed society dramatically, as much as any
technologies stemming from the physical sciences. Examples include the antisera
and antibiotics that helped to put infectious diseases into retreat, and the
new breeds of crops and fertilizers that have helped forestall famine in many
areas of the world. Yet the nature and significance of technological
developments based on the life sciences, and brought to fruition by cooperative
work between academic and industrial biologists, have received only piecemeal
attention (and relatively little at that). There has been no concerted effort
to examine these issues.
We
will explore a range of collaborations across various life sciences and
industries throughout the 20th century. The goals of the seminar include
stimulating new research on the history of industrial life science, and gaining
historical perspective on the recent controversies surrounding the intimate
relations between biologists and industrialists that have developed in relation
to genetic engineering. Among the questions to be addressed are the following.
In the past, what types of benefits have businesses offered in return for the
technical advice and intellectual property of the biologists with whom they
collaborated, and what restrictions on academic freedom have they imposed? In
what ways have biologists transformed the businesses in which or with which
they worked? In what ways (beyond merely providing technical advice) have life
scientists contributed to transforming their ideas into products and making
them successful in the wider social context? How have the interactions between
basic life scientists and industry differed in agricultural versus medical
arenas? What (if any) distinctive changes in biologist-industrialist relations
have occurred recently in the commercial applications of molecular genetics? By
bringing together historians, sociologists, and life scientists, we will be
able to explore such questions in provocative and multidisciplinary ways.
Participation by leading biologists who have had practical experience in
biotechnology will provide important perspectives on the sorts of issues that
arise from these types of collaborations.
We
seek a diverse interdisciplinary group in order to promote rich, productive
discussions and cross-fertilization of ideas and approaches. Many collaborative
projects have resulted from past Dibner seminars, and we expect the same this
year. Organizers for the Dibner History of Biology Seminars are John Beatty,
James Collins, and Jane Maienschein; for this seminar, John Beatty will serve as the main contact. For
further information about the seminar series and for application materials and
financial aid applications (note deadline of January 15, 2002), please contact:
The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Dibner
Building, MIT E56-100, Cambridge MA 02139 (tel. 617-253-8721), or email Carla Chrisfeld.
The
Society for the History of Natural History announces the establishment of the
annual Alwyne Wheeler Bursary to support travel by scholars under age 30 to
annual meetings of the SHNH, normally held in Spring. The award will include up
to GBP#100 (or equivalent) for travel, plus conference registration. One
bursary will be awarded per year. Preference will be for applicants who
contribute a paper or other presentation at the meeting. Bursary recipients
will be invited to submit a paper to the Society's journal, Archives of natural
history. Application deadlines are sixty days prior to the meeting. Applicants
need not be members of the society.
The
Alwyne Wheeler Bursary draws on a fund established in 1999 — on the
occasion of his retirement as the Society's Honorary Editor — to
facilitate original contributions to the study of the history of natural
history by a person under the age of 30. The Society for the History of Natural
History is the only international society devoted to the history of botany,
zoology and geology, in the broadest sense, including natural history
collections, exploration, art and bibliography. Application forms, notes for
guidance, and a diary of meetings are available through the society's Website, and from the SHNH Secretary c/o The Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, England.
Colloquium
on New Approaches to Ancient Science Planned
A
Three-Year Colloquium of the American Philological Association
Organized
by Philip Thibodeau, University of Georgia and Tiberiu Popa, University of
Pittsburgh
First
Year: Life Sciences
134th
Annual Meeting of the American Philological Association
New
Orleans, Louisiana, January 2003
Call
for Papers: This three-year colloquium has been designed with the aims of
shedding new light on ancient science, enabling established and emerging
scholars to share their views with one another, and giving this exciting branch
of classics more prominence at the APA meetings. We hope to spur a large
audience to a renewed appreciation of the power and sophistication, as well as
the often telling limitations, of ancient scientific theories. The organizers
invite researchers from a wide range of disciplines - classics, history, and
philosophy of science, but also political and economic history, archaeology,
psychology - to examine ancient science from their own varied perspectives.
In
its first year the focus of the colloquium will be on the life sciences in
antiquity, a domain that has long commanded the attention of leading scholars
and has recently been the scene of intense and fascinating debates. Among the
issues open for discussion are: methods of investigation within ancient
zoology, botany, anatomy, physiology, and `bio-chemistry'; polemical discourse
within these fields; biology as it was theorized vs. biology as it was
practiced; social factors that caused the life sciences to change over time;
reception in Islamic and Christian cultures; connections between human medicine
and biology; connections between biology and fields such as physics and
mechanics; the relationship between the inner structures of scientific
explanation and the `rhetoric' of scientific discourse.
Abstracts
of no more than 800 words should be sent by February 1, 2002 to Philip
Thibodeau, Department of Classics, 221 Park Hall, University of Georgia, Athens
GA 30602-6203. Email (pthib@arches.uga.edu)
and hard-copy contributions are equally welcome. All abstracts will be judged
anonymously by three referees; notifications of the colloquium's final decision
will be sent out by March 25, 2002. Contributors must be members in good
standing of the American Philological Association. For more information please
visit our website.
Chemical
Heritage Foundation Fellowships Invites Applications for 2002-2003 Fellowships
Fellowship
opportunities are available at the Chemical Heritage Foundation's Beckman
Center for the History of Chemistry. The Beckman Center hosts scholars from all
parts of the world through its fellowship and scholarship programs. It
administers several different fellowships for both the academic year and the
summer. They include six Academic Year Opportunities as well as two Summer
Opportunities. Research Travel Grants are also available.
Details
of these fellowships can be found online.
or
by contacting the Fellowship Coordinator, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 315
Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702; Fax (215) 925-1954; email: fellowships@chemheritage.org
ISHPSSB
Committees for 2001-2003 Announced
Program
Committee, Vienna 2003
Rob
Skipper, Chair <skippera@email.uc.edu>
Betty
Smocovitis <bsmocovi@history.ufl.edu>
Tom
Kane <thomas.kane@uc.edu>
Phil
Sloan <Phillip.R.Sloan.1@nd.edu>
Christiane
Groeben <groeben@alpha.szn.it>
Werner
Callebaut <werner.callebaut@kla.univie.ac.at>
Michael
Lynch <mel27@cornell.edu>
Heather
Douglas <hdouglas@ups.edu>
Joan
Fujimura <fujimura@ssc.wisc.edu>
Local
Arrangements Committee, Vienna 2003
Dolores
Schuetz, Chair <dolores.schuetz@kla.univie.ac.at>
Rob
Skipper <skippera@email.uc.edu>
David
Valone <David.Valone@quinnipiac.edu>
Keith
Benson <krbenson@u.washington.edu>
Kathy
Cooke <Kathy.Cooke@quinnipiac.edu>
David
Castle <dcastle@uoguelph.ca>
Education
Committee
Steve
Fifield, Chair <fifield@udel.edu>
Peter
Taylor, ISHPSSB Education Web Site Manager <peter.taylor@umb.edu>
Douglas
Allchin <allchin@pclink.com>
Garland
Allen <allen@biology.wustl.edu>
David
Rudge <david.rudge@wmich.edu>
Gail
Schmitt <gschmitt@princeton.edu>
Joan
Straumanis <joan.straumanis@ed.gov>
Chris
Young <cyoung@aero.net>
Off-Year
Workshop Committee
Chris
Young, Chair <cyoung@aero.net>
Nathaniel
Comfort <comfort@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu>
Christiane
Groeben <groeben@alpha.szn.it>
Jane
Maienschein <maienschein@asu.edu>
Lenny
Moss <Lenny.Moss.9@nd.edu>
Travel
Support Committee
Keith
Benson, Chair <krbenson@u.washington.edu>
Christiane
Groeben <groeben@alpha.szn.it>
Mark
Russell <mrussell@vt.edu>
Aylet
Shavit <ashavit@kfar-giladi.org.il>
Juan
Carlos Zamora <jczc66@hotmail.com>
Operations
Committee
Michael
Dietrich <Michael.Dietrich@Dartmouth.EDU>
Ron
Amundson <ronald@hawaii.edu>
Ana
Barahona Echeverria <abe@hp.fciencias.unam.mx>
Dick
Burian <rmburian@VT.EDU>
Gregg
Mitman <gmitman@med.wisc.edu>
Lynn
Nyhart <lknyhart@facstaff.wisc.edu>
Hans-Joerg
Rheinberger <rheinbg@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de>
Nominations
Committee
Dick
Burian, Chair <rmburian@vt.edu>
Marilia
Coutinho <marilia-coutinho@uol.com.br>
Ron
Rainger <j3ron@ttacs.ttu.edu>
Marjorie
Grene Prize Committee
Kelly
Smith, Chair <kcs@clemson.edu>
Pam
Henson <HENSONP@OSIA.SI.EDU>
(one
more person to be added)
Semiotics,
Evolution, Energy, Development is now on line
Graves Publishes
to Good Reviews
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/see/pages/SEED_Journal.html
The
journal is refereed and has an ISSN number. Instructions for contributors are
on the web page. The Journal covers Physic, Energyand Symmetry, Biosemiotics,
Cognition, Computers and Robotology, and Economic, Management and Social
Development. Articles that emphasize processes that permit the formation of
connections through non-linear processes are preferred, but arguments that such
processes are not required are also welcome.
The
past 50 years have seen the introduction of information as a physical entity
with a mathematical theory. In the last ten years, connections have been
developed to energy, evolution and development, as well as to signs,
representation, interpretation and the mind. Many of these developments are
controversial, such as whether information is intrinsically related to meaning,
whether there is a general semiotics that extends beyond human signs, and
whether, indeed, there is anything well-defined outside of human theories. This
journal deals with these and related issues.
John
Collier, Editor in Chief
<pljdc@alinga.newcastle.edu.au>
Impromptu
planning sessions popped up all over, including this one, featuring ISHPSSB
President Lindley Darden (second from left), graduate student Vivette Garcia
Deister (center), President-Elect Michael Dietrich (center, with back to
camera), and Treasurer Keith Benson (second from right).
The
Emperor's New Clothes: Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium, Joseph L. Graves, Jr.
Joseph
Graves traces the development of thought about human genetic diversity. He
argues that racism has persisted in our society because adequate scientific
reasoning has not entered into the equation. Graves champions the scientific
method, and explains how we may properly ask questions about the nature of
population differentiation and how (if at all) we may correlate that diversity
to differences in human capacity and behavior. He also cautions us to think
critically about scientific findings that have historically been misused in
controversies over racial differences in intelligence heritability, criminal
behavior, disease predisposition, and other traits. Greek philosophy, social
Darwinism, New World colonialism, the eugenics movement, intelligence testing
biases, and racial health fallacies are just a few of the topics he addresses.
Graves's
book has received excellent endorsements thus far: "Intellectually
delightful, and at times deeply moving, this book's fundamental thesis is of
outstanding importance. The biological non-existence of race is one of the most
liberating messages that the American public will hear in a long time. It
should be read by anybody who is a registered voter in the United States."
—Michael R. Rose
"The
Emperor's New Clothes provides a lucid and stimulating history of the uses and, mostly,
abuses of the cultural and biological constructions of the concept of race.
Professor Graves insightfully demonstrates that race classifications cannot be
biologically justified. His book is eminently readable and engrossing."
—Francisco J. Ayala
Cloth,
$28.00, 0-8135-2847-X; 252 pp.
Rutgers
University Press
http://Rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/
Recent
Listserv Survey Indicates Need for Only Minor Changes
Roberta
Millstein
1.
The amount of traffic on the ISHPSSB listserv is:
6.67%
A. too much
48.3%
B. too little
36.67%
C. just right
3.3%
B/C
5%
No response (new to list):
2.
I would like to see the ISHPSSB listserv send out (list as many as apply):
96.67%
A. ISHPSSB conference information
81.6%
B. Brief updates from ISHPSSB committees
78.3%
C. Position announcements
78.3%
D. Postdoctoral announcements
83.3%
E. Grant and funding opportunities
85%
F. Other conference announcements and calls for papers
81.67%
G. Brief queries from members on research topics
68.3%
H. Discussion of topics relating to the themes of the society
I.
Other (please specify)
3.
The following scheme has been proposed for managing the ISHPSSB listserv: when
important Society news arrives (e.g., call for papers for meeting, registration
info, Grene Prize info, etc.), it will be posted immediately, with a header
indicating it is Society business. When other items of general interest arrive,
they will be saved, posted as a group with headings only, pointing to a URL
where more info is to be found, if wanted. I would prefer:
31.67%
A. The present scheme (all messages sent out in their entirety)
60%
B. The new, proposed scheme (only Society news sent in full; other messages
sent as headings only with links to a website containing the full text of the
messages)
3.3%
C. Some other scheme (please specify)
5%
No response/no preference
Comments
from the Moderator
There
were 60 respondents in total. It is clear that the majority of respondents do
not see a need to reduce the amount of traffic. More people would prefer to see
an increase in traffic vs. keeping it the same (although this is not a large
difference).
A-G
all received very strong responses, and I would recommend that we include these
items on the list. The response to H is still a clear majority, although it is less
strong than the other responses. One perhaps surprising note is that 20 of the
22 people who said that the traffic was "just right" included H among
the items they would like to see the society send out, yet out of the 29 people
who wanted more traffic, only 18 included H. (I would have thought that most
who wanted no increase in traffic would also reject discussion, but this was
not the case). Given the percentage of people who want discussion, I think we
should accommodate this in some form. A few people suggested a separate list or
a web site for discussion, and this is a possibility we might want to consider.
The advantage of a separate list/website is so that discussion does not
overwhelm the significant minority who does not wish to see it. The disadvantage
is that a split list/website is more trouble to maintain and might be more
confusing to members.
The
new scheme is preferred by a majority, although again, there is a significant
minority who want the present scheme. I don't see any easy way to accommodate
both. I didn't hear any strong objections to the new scheme, although some
indicated that the present scheme is simpler. I would recommend switching to
the new scheme.
Briefly,
here are some of the other suggestions/comments that we received (I've
summarized these):
Other items to include: new books and reference sources, web-based resources, course info, book reviews, newsletter as an attach