This year's committee was chaired by Sophia Efstathiou at the NTNU, Norway and ACG, Greece and Yafeng Shan, at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Our awards committee members were Rachel Mason Detinger at the University of Utah, USA, Jamie Elwick at York University, Canada, Siohban Fenella Guerrero Mc Manus, at UNAM, Mexico, Stavros Ioannidis at University of Athens, Greece, and Thomas Reydon at University of Hannover, Germany.
The Marjorie Grene prize is named in Grene's honor not only because of her contribution to the history and philosophy of biology, but because she helped create the spirit of interdisciplinarity so fundamental to ISHPSSB. Grene was a valued mentor to many members of the Society and a long-standing inspiration to all, for the excellence of her work and her actions in bringing together diverse scholars of biology, even before the formation of the Society. The prize thus honors Grene's legacy by supporting early career scholars in the history, philosophy and/or social studies of biology. The award consists of a certificate, US$500 and a permanent record of the award on a plaque which circulates every two years to the current winner(s).
This year's winner is “A backwards book? Eugenics and the evolution of R.A. Fisher's The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection” by Alex Aylward.
In this paper Aylward offers a novel interpretation on the authorship of R.A. Fisher's classic text, using archival material that has been so far unstudied and, in effect, suppressed. This neglected earlier draft of Fisher's book supports the claim that Fisher's interest in human eugenics took precedence over his work in natural selection and heredity. Aylward's paper captivated our awards committee with its vivid writing and impressed us with the originality of its argument and research. Finally, it exemplified the broad impact that the history of biology can have —in this case, informing discussions on how ideology and science can shape each other.
Sophia Efstathiou,
Co-Chair of the Marjorie Grene and Werner Callebaut Prizes Committee