Experimental Evolution in the U.S. National Context

9320310金斯兰查尔斯·达尔文于1859年提出了他的基于自然选择的进化论。然而，直到20世纪三四十年代，当达尔文的自然选择理论被证明与种群遗传学（取代了孟德尔遗传学）相容时，“进化生物学综合”理论才在美国被广泛接受。金斯兰博士正在调查实验生物学在美国的兴起。正是这种实验生物学为达尔文理论与遗传学的调和奠定了基础。金斯兰博士将科学思想和实践的历史与科学的制度、社会和文化背景的研究相结合。她正在用实验进化的研究来阐述关于20世纪形成时期美国科学特征的更大主题。具体来说，她是在说：美国对德国进化生物学研究的反应，尤其是对奥古斯特·魏斯曼的反应；2. 美国人对突变理论的回应：一个案例研究，用来检验鼓励实验进化方法的经济、文化和制度因素；3. 拉马克进化论在美国语境中的兴衰和4。性别决定的问题作为一个案例研究性别在美国的角色。她还研究了影响科学知识增长的合作与竞争的社会过程。＊＊＊

9320310 Kingsland Charles Darwin offered his theory of evolution based on natural selection in 1859. Yet it was not widely accepted in the United States until the 1930's and 40's until the "evolutionary biology synthesis" when Darwinian natural selection was shown to be compatible with population genetics (which had replaced Mendelian genetics). Dr. Kingsland is investigating the rise of experimental biology in the United States. It was this experimental biology that set the framework for the reconciliation of Darwinian theory with genetics. Dr, Kingsland is combining a history of scientific ideas and practice with a study of the institutional, social, and cultural context of science. She is using this study of experimental evolution to address larger themes about the character of American science in the formative years of the 20th century. Specifically, she is addressing: 1. The American response to German work in evolutionary biology, especially the response to August Weismann; 2. The American response to mutation theory: a case study used to examine the economic, cultural, and institutional factors that encouraged an experimental approach to evolution; 3. The rise and fall of Lamarckian theories of evolution in the American context; and 4. The problem of sex determination as a case study of the role of gender in the American context. She is also examining the social processes of cooperation and competition that influence the growth of scientific knowledge. ***