November 4th, 2009 by Daniel Goldstein
I’ve just finished reading Richard Fortey, Dry Storeroom No. 1 (Knopf, 2008), a memoir about the British Museum (Natural History) by the museum’s Trilobite expert. Fortey walks his reader through the different behind the scenes working sections of the museum and introduces the reader to the buildings, the collections, the research and most of all the people who inhabit those spaces.
In one way the book reminds me of James Herriott’s All Creatures Great and Small in that it is a collection of curious facts, stories and anecdotes about (mostly) charmingly eccentric people. But the book has a much more serious purpose as well. It contains a powerful argument for the importance of foundational scientific research–in the museum’s case, systematics–, of the collections of specimens and needed to support it, and of the people who have built up decades worth of taxonomic knowledge. In one powerful passage he states:
But I do understand the primacy of collections as a record of the world, both human and natural. There is more to collections than the golden rule about never throwing things away. There is inherent value in having people who “know their stuff.” The apparently esoteric can suddenly illuminate unsuspected areas of knowledge. those who have devoted their lives to collections–obdurate people, odd people, admirable people–actually make a museum what it is and should be.
Posted in Current Reading, History, History of Science, Uncategorized | No Comments Yet »
June 17th, 2009 by Daniel Goldstein
I’ve just finished reading Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line, historian Martha A. Sandweiss’ take on the secret marriage of Clarence King, geologist, explorer and author to Ada Copeland, a domestic worker who had been born a slave. The fact of the marriage had been public knowledge since the 1930s, but Sandweiss has built a remarkable book around around it that ties together stories of race and class, economic and social change, adventure and love. Sandweiss discovered that King “passed” as a black man when he met Copeland, and kept from her the secret of his name and his identity as one of the most celebrated men of his day. She found out only in a letter he had written her from his deathbed. The book explores the complexity of this relationship and the question of how King could pull this deception off for more than a decade. More than a microstudy, it is also an extraordinarily rich portrayal of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, and would, I think be a splendid read for an undergraduate course. Sandweiss sums it all up in the final paragraph of the book.
The story of Clarence and Ada King is about love and longing that transcend the historical bounds of time and place. . . . But it is also a peculiarly American story that could take root only in a society where one’s racial identity determined one’s legal rights and social opportunities. At every turn it exposes the deep fissures of race and class that cut through the landscape of American life. . . .
Passing Strange is in the library at Call Number: E 185.625 .S255 2009
Posted in African and African American Studies, American Studies, American West, Current Reading, History, History of Science | No Comments Yet »
June 3rd, 2009 by Daniel Goldstein
There’s a new editorial, “Journals Under Threat,” appearing in 61 international history of science, technology and medicine journals. It was issued jointly by the editors of all 61 journals and should be read by anyone involved in the humanities. (Link to editorial in Medical History via PubMed Central.)
This collaborative editorial critiques an initiative from the European Science Foundation called the European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH). According to the editors, “The ERIH is an attempt to grade journals in the humanities. . . . The initiative proposes a league table of academic journals, with premier, second and third divisions. But, while the editors direct their objections to this specific initiative, their core critique challenges the underlying premise of any journal ranking scheme as it applies to the humanities.
Journals’ quality cannot be separated from their contents and their review processes. Great research may be published anywhere and in any language. Truly ground-breaking work may be more likely to appear from marginal, dissident or unexpected sources, rather than from a well-established and entrenched mainstream. Our journals are various, heterogeneous and distinct. Some are aimed at a broad, general and international readership, others are more specialized in their content and implied audience. Their scope and readership say nothing about the quality of their intellectual content.
We are in a time when academic publishing is under strain and the University of California is confronting a future of sharply reduced state support. As we, collectively and as individuals, are forced to make difficult decisions about what research to fund or not to fund, where to publish, what journals to purchase or to cancel, the temptation is strong to base our choices on seemingly objective measures like the ERIH. This editorial is a strong and timely reminder that despite their allure, such ranking systems are of questionable value. Indeed, the authors of this editorial feel so strongly that the ERIH is antithetical to interests of the research community that they have all asked to have their journals removed from its lists.
Posted in Current Reading, History, History of Science, Publishers | No Comments Yet »
May 29th, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo
Based at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Nevada Test Site Oral History Project is “a comprehensive program dedicated to documenting, preserving and disseminating the remembered past of persons affiliated with and affected by the Nevada Test Site during the era of Cold War nuclear testing.” From 2003 to 2008, oral history narrators participated in this project, and they included national laboratory scientists, military personnel, Native American leaders, and peace activists. On the homepage, visitors should look through the three thematic sections, including “Contested Landscapes” and “Community of Voices”. Through these oral histories and testimonies, visitors can learn about the complex set of processes and experiences surrounding the test site. Along the left hand of the site, visitors can search the collection, make a list of their favorite interviews, and also get assistance with using the site.
Access: http://digital.library.unlv.edu/ntsohp/
Tags: Cold War, History of Science
Posted in American West, History, History of Science, Native American Studies | No Comments Yet »
