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 Werner Callebaut prize honors Callebaut's contribution to the philosophy of biology. His mentorship guided the intellectual and personal development of countless philosophers and scientists, contributing greatly to ensure that philosophical and scientific work evolve in constructive dialogue and reciprocal respect. Callebaut's work reached creatively across fields relevant to a philosophical understanding of biology, comprising areas as far removed as economics, evolutionary biology, history, sociology and cognitive science, as well crossing national cultures, languages and traditions —most notably the ‘continental-analytic' divide in philosophy. The Callebaut prize thus focuses on recognizing early career scholars' interdisciplinary, boundary-crossing work, which is at the core of the ISHSSPB community. The award consists of a certificate and an award of US$1000, as well as a permanent record of the award on a plaque which circulates every two years to the current winners.
This year this Committee decided to split the award between two papers, listed alphabetically by their authors' surnames.
- “Exploring the socio-ecology of science: The case of coral reefs” by Elis Jones,
- “Analogical Anatomy: Neurons, Networks and the Electric Telegraph”, by Richard Vagnino.
Elis Jones's work “Exploring the socio-ecology of science: The case of coral reefs” wonderfully exemplifies the spirit of interdisciplinary work, which the Callebaut prize speaks to. In this paper, Jones works with empirical material collected from interviews with coral reef scientists, integrated with a theoretical, philosophical understanding of niche construction to advance a socio-ecological account of coral-reef science as niche construction, with scientists understood as niche constructors, who shape their social and material world. The paper, though received in draft state, needing work to be finished, still impressed us with its novel analysis and the wider interdisciplinary interest and relevance it has for the field including STS, and for social analyses of science.
Richard Vagnino's work is an exemplar of integrated HPS. The paper “Analogical Anatomy: Neurons, Networks and the Electric Telegraph” explores the philosophical question of how analogy helped build scientific theory by tracing the historical debate between Camillo Golgi's reticularist understandings of brain function and Santiago Ramon y Cajal's notion of the neuron. Vagnino explains this stubborn debate as relating to the two scientists' divergent conceptions of ‘networks' in terms of, respectively, their functional role in uniting parts of the brain or the physical aspects of their organising different parts of the brain. Emerging telegraph technology influenced these analogical readings. The paper is well researched, carefully argued, and highlights the value of combining philosophical and historical research for a clearer understanding of ways that the sciences develop.
In conclusion, we would also like to mention a paper shortlisted for the Grene prize, which also impressed us: “Invasion on so grand a scale: Darwin, Lyell and Invasive Species” by Eric Burns Andersen.
This paper argues that Charles Darwin's early observations and work regarding processes of ‘naturalization' —or of the introduction of European or invasive species in foreign places– was crucial in shaping his ideas on natural selection, especially when set against Charles Lyell's creationist assumptions. This paper is original, well written and argued, shedding light on a fascinating and important topic. The primary research in Aylward's work was exceptional in quality and originality so he was awarded the Grene prize this year, but we wanted to mention Eric's wonderful work too.
Finally, we want to encourage all our early career colleagues to send us papers you are in the process of publishing, and which are based on your presentation in the last two meetings, for the next round of awards.
Sophia Efstathiou
Co-chair of the Marjorie Grene and Werner Callebaut Prizes Committee