Geology and the Emergence of Science as a Profession in the United States

地质学和科学作为一种职业在美国的出现

• 批准号: 0114869
• 负责人: Julie Newell
• 金额: $ 13.5万
• 依托单位: Southern Polytechnic State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-08-15 至 2003-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0114869&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Geology; Emergence; Science; Profession; United

Project AbstractJulie R. Newell, Southern Polytechnic State UniversityGeology and the Emergence of Science as a Profession in the United StatesIn the secondary literature on the history of science in America, geology has long been recognized as the first science to develop an extensive professional community. Further, geologists developed the support structures and institutions that made professional science in the United States possible. Among the critical institutions founded by geologists were the first general scientific journal, The American Journal of Science (1818), and the Association of American Geologists (1840), which would become the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1848). These achievements were critical to the emergence of professional scientists in other disciplines in the United States. No published history of science in America has, however, rooted these generalizations about the importance of geology in primary documents and archival evidence. Nor has it been explained why geology, rather than some other science, should have played this pivotal role. This project focuses on one central question with a multitude of ramifications: Why geology? Why were geologists able to garner public, political, and most importantly financial support for their scientific endeavors? What was it about the science of geology in the period before 1865 that particularly suited the cultural, political, and physical environment in the United States? Dr. Newell's thesis is that geology was a relatively new science uniquely well suited to the values and goals of the early United States and for which the United States provided unique materials for study and for the generation of truly American geological theories. Working from her earlier manuscript, Dr. Newell is conducting extensive additional archival research in order to unravel the personal and institutional relationships that underlie the development of geology in the United States and its impact on the broader history of science. The ultimate goal is an book-length manuscript that provides an integrated account of the early history of geology in the United States, including the content of the science, the goals and methods of the scientists, and the contexts that shaped, and were shaped by, American geologists and their geology. No such account exists in the published literature of the history of American geology. In addition, because of the centrality of geology to the emergence of science as a profession in the United States, this study should interest scholars concerned with the general history of science in the United States or in American intellectual history.

项目摘要Julie R.纽韦尔，南方州立理工大学地质学和科学作为一种职业在美国的出现在美国科学史的二级文献中，地质学长期以来被认为是第一门发展出广泛的专业团体的科学。此外，地质学家发展了支持结构和机构，使美国的专业科学成为可能。在地质学家创立的重要机构中，有第一份普通科学杂志《美国科学杂志》（1818年）和美国地质学家协会（1840年），后者将成为美国科学促进协会（1848年）。这些成就对美国其他学科的专业科学家的出现至关重要。然而，美国出版的科学史中没有一部将这些关于地质学重要性的概括植根于原始文献和档案证据中。也没有解释为什么地质学，而不是其他科学，应该发挥这一关键作用。这个项目集中在一个中心问题与众多的分支：为什么地质？ 为什么地质学家能够为他们的科学事业获得公众、政治和最重要的财政支持？1865年以前的地质科学是如何特别适合美国的文化、政治和自然环境的？纽韦尔博士的论点是，地质学是一门相对较新的科学，非常适合早期美国的价值观和目标，美国为研究和产生真正的美国地质学理论提供了独特的材料。纽韦尔博士从她早期的手稿工作，正在进行广泛的额外档案研究，以解开个人和机构的关系，在美国地质学的发展及其对更广泛的科学史的影响。 最终目标是一本书长的手稿，提供了美国地质学早期历史的综合叙述，包括科学的内容，科学家的目标和方法，以及塑造和塑造美国地质学家及其地质学的背景。在美国地质学史的出版文献中，没有这样的记载。此外，由于地质学在美国科学作为一种职业的出现中所起的中心作用，这项研究应该引起关注美国科学通史或美国思想史的学者的兴趣。