Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: "Nature and the Making of a Scientific Community"

博士论文研究改进补助金：“自然与科学共同体的形成”

• 批准号: 0749867
• 负责人: Michael Gordin
• 金额: $ 0.97万
• 依托单位: Princeton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-03-01 至 2008-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0749867&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Improvement; Grant

This doctoral dissertation is a study of the first seventy years of the journal Nature, today arguably the world?s most prestigious and influential scientific journal, from its first issue in 1869 until the onset of World War II in 1939. This time period covers the careers of Nature's first two editors, Sir Norman Lockyer (editor from 1869-1919) and Sir Richard Gregory (editor from 1919-1939). The project seeks to answer three major questions about Nature's foundation and development. First, what did Lockyer seek to accomplish by starting the journal, and how did the journal's goals change over time as editorial control increasingly passed to Lockyer's assistant Gregory? Second, what image of science did Nature portray? Which disciplines and practitioners did the journal admit to its pages? Finally, why did this British journal, a commercial publication unaffiliated with any scientific society, become one of the world?s highest-status science publications? What drew scientists from not just the United Kingdom but also Germany, Russia, France and the United States to read and contribute to Nature, and why did publishing one?s work in Nature come to be an internationally recognized indicator of scientific status? This dissertation will explore Nature's transformation from a popular science magazine to an internationally prestigious scientific journal, and will examine how scientists in Britain and eventually throughout the world came to see Nature as the embodiment of an idealized "scientific community."A close study of Nature's contents will reveal much about nineteenth-century British science, including the importance of publication and priority, the development of the debate about scientific naturalism, the position of social sciences and engineering in the British scientific hierarchy, and the challenges women faced in seeking membership in the British scientific community. The project will also contribute significantly to the literature on early twentieth-century scientific internationalism by examining how Nature helped create an image of a scientific community that crossed national borders, and how the international crises of World War I and National Socialism affected the journal's treatment of science and scientists in Germany. Finally, by examining the development of a publication that became one of the world's most important scientific journals, this project will shed new light on the historical context in which the journal became the primary form of scientific communication.This project engages with several issues that remain central to modern science, such as the conflict between naturalism and religious faith, the effects of political interests and war on the development of science, and the changing definition of what constitutes a "science." By examining such issues through the lens of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century science, this dissertation will enhance understanding of the current structure of the scientific community among scholars and the public. Lastly, a study of the rise of a highly influential medium of international scientific communication, the journal, may shed light on how scientists adjust to the changing landscape of publication?-an issue relevant to current concerns about review processes, priority and editorial control in a new medium, on-line publishing.

这篇博士论文是对《自然》杂志前七十年的研究，今天可以说是世界？从1869年第一期到1939年第二次世界大战爆发，一直是美国最负盛名、最有影响力的科学杂志。这段时间涵盖了《自然》的前两位编辑诺曼·洛克耶爵士（1869-1919年编辑）和理查德·格雷戈里爵士（1919-1939年编辑）的职业生涯。该项目旨在回答关于自然的基础和发展的三个主要问题。首先，洛克耶创办这本杂志的目的是什么？随着编辑控制权越来越多地交给洛克耶的助手格雷戈里，这本杂志的目标是如何随着时间的推移而变化的？第二，大自然塑造了什么样的科学形象？哪些学科和实践者被允许进入期刊？最后，为什么这本英国杂志，一个不隶属于任何科学协会的商业出版物，成为世界之一？最高的科学出版物？是什么吸引了不仅来自英国，而且来自德国、俄罗斯、法国和美国的科学家阅读《自然》并为之撰稿？他在《自然》杂志上的工作成为国际公认的科学地位指标吗？本文将探讨《自然》从一本科普杂志到一本国际知名科学期刊的转变，并将考察英国乃至世界各地的科学家如何将《自然》视为理想化的“科学共同体”的体现。对《自然》内容的仔细研究将揭示19世纪英国科学的许多情况，包括出版和优先权的重要性，关于科学自然主义的辩论的发展，社会科学和工程学在英国科学等级中的地位，以及女性在寻求英国科学界成员资格时所面临的挑战。该项目还将通过研究《自然》如何帮助创造一个跨越国界的科学界形象，以及第一次世界大战和国家社会主义的国际危机如何影响该杂志对德国科学和科学家的处理，为20世纪早期科学国际主义的文献做出重大贡献。最后，通过研究一份成为世界上最重要的科学期刊之一的出版物的发展，本项目将对该期刊成为科学交流的主要形式的历史背景有新的认识。本项目涉及现代科学的几个核心问题，例如自然主义和宗教信仰之间的冲突，政治利益和战争对科学发展的影响，以及“科学”定义的变化。“本论文通过十九世纪末和二十世纪初科学的透镜来审视这些问题，将增进学者和公众对科学界当前结构的理解。最后，一项关于国际科学交流中极具影响力的媒介--《科学》杂志的兴起的研究，可能会揭示科学家如何适应不断变化的出版环境？这一问题与目前对审查程序、优先次序和在线出版这一新媒介的编辑控制的关注有关。