News Release

Lively book by three noted historians of science traces 150 years of AAAS history

Book Announcement

Cornell University

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Commissioned institutional histories tend to be dry and self-congratulatory, dull work for anonymous authors and often even duller reading. Yet The Establishment of Science in America: 150 Years of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, released last December, transcends the genre.

That is because this is a history by three noted historians of science who see no value in protecting institutions: Bruce V. Lewenstein, associate professor of communication and science and technology studies at Cornell University; Michael M. Sokal, professor of history at Worcester Polytechnic Institute; and Sally Gregory Kohlstedt, professor of the history of science and technology at the University of Minnesota.

"They did not require us to produce a laudatory book, so there are plenty of warts here," says Lewenstein. "Yes, we also wrote about the good things. But basically we were allowed to say what we thought had happened in the association, and that's important. It helps the book get beyond that dull institutional history."

That they have made institutional history lively and readable is attested to by Stephen Jay Gould, current president of the association, known as the AAAS, and professor of zoology at Harvard University, who writes in the book's foreword, "I had no intention of reading the book beyond a skim and a scan for some illustrative material...and then a funny thing happened. I read the whole book, every word of it, in one sitting, because the account was so informative, interesting, and honorably written."

Founded in 1848, the AAAS is the largest general organization of scientists in America, with 145,000 members from around the world. It is best known for publishing the leading peer-reviewed magazine Science and holding the world's largest annual scientific gathering.

Said Kohlstedt, "The AAAS met an important need for an emerging scientific community and the leadership included the very top scientists in the nation. By the end of the century, it remained the major podium for scientists to talk with each other collectively about advancing science, even as many members also joined more specialized societies in nearly every scientific field."

One reason, perhaps, why this is an insightful, cohesive book is because the writing process was collaborative. "After we had all written our first drafts, we realized that we actually had some recurring themes," says Lewenstein. "Things like the definition of democracy -- the difference between a democratic ideal, which is a very American ideal, and an elite science -- and the idea of the professionalization of science, from becoming professional scientists to the notion of professionals with some responsibilities beyond their narrow technical work. We found that we could tell the story in a way for those themes to recur."

The authors agree that they actually ended up with a book that they all really like. "It's more than just telling the story of the AAAS, because it actually connects well with some recurring issues in the general history of American science," says Lewenstein.

"Collaborating on a book was new for me -- and it was far more engaging than I anticipated," says Kohlstedt. "My colleagues and I shared drafts, offered editorial advice, and picked up on themes that would carry through the book. We rewrote sections that helped anticipate or follow up such topics as women's participation, interest in public schooling, lobbying for public policies favorable to science, and the tension between specialized scientific interests and more general and common concerns. Because we each had special expertise on the period that we covered, we also wrote about the shifting expectations of scientists and the public engagement at particular times and places."

The authors were matched to their specialties, each being the primary writer for a given

50-year span. Kohlstedt, whose doctoral dissertation was on the association's founding, wrote the chapter Creating a Forum for Science: AAAS in the Nineteenth Century. Sokal, the author of a biography of James McKeen Cattell, editor of Science from the late 1800's until 1944, wrote the chapter Promoting Science in a New Century: The Middle Years of the AAAS. Lewenstein, whose doctoral dissertation dealt with the AAAS and the public understanding of science, authored the chapter Shifting Science from People to Programs: AAAS in the Postwar Years.

The authors also drew upon original research. "I thought I knew more about the history than I did, and so initially I thought I would write it from what I know, and I would start with the draft of my dissertation chapter, and then just sort of tack some stuff on. I ended up having to do a whole lot more original research than I had planned," says Lewenstein.

The book was commissioned in early 1997 with the initial goal of publication in early 1998, although writing delays pushed back that timetable. "The original thought was that the AAAS might publish it itself. Then as it became clear that the book was better than just an institutional history, we pushed hard to have them get it published by an outside publisher, because they can market it better," says Lewenstein.

He adds, "It will certainly go into research libraries as a research text and be used within the AAAS. We also have some hope that it might be used as a supplementary text in courses on the history of American science. We actually think it would fit well, especially for those looking for an institutional perspective."

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The Establishment of Science in America (ISBN 0-8135-2705-8) is published by Rutgers University Press. It is available in hardcover for $35.


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