Causes and consequences of the shift in primacy from pure to applied science and technology in the late 20th century. Its impact on scientific norms and the view of AI systems - Ute Deichmann
Abstract:
Until the late 20th century, universities in the West generally gave primacy to basic science (here understood as aimed at understanding natural phenomena and their causes) over applied science (that is, using this knowledge for practical goals) and technologies, as has been examined by historian of physics Paul Forman. Forman noted a reversal of this primacy around 1980, which he viewed as a demarcation of postmodernism from modernism.
This article places the topic of the transition from basic to applied science in the context of the history of science and scientific institutions. It examines social, economic, ideological, and scientific factors behind the increasing commercialization of science at universities. It also sheds light on the development of various sciences before they could serve as a basis for technological applications, and emphasizes that the path from discovery to significant new applications has usually been long and convoluted, with many dead ends. The article examines how this shift towards applied science and technology at universities affected Merton's institutional norms as the ethos of modern science, and, finally, it analyzes the role of AI in this shift and the views of two AI systems on the causes.
Keywords: Decline of basic science; Michael Polanyi on science and technology; increase of university-industry relationships; convergence of capitalist and communist ideologies re applications of science; AI on basic and applied science
Colloids and epigenetic marks: A comparison of two fashions, 1900 and 2000 - Ute Deichmann
Abstract:
At the beginning of the 20th century a fast-rising new area of research, biocolloidy, began to dominate biological chemistry. Biocolloidists replaced the 19th-century idea of macromolecules with that of colloidal aggregates of small molecules, which were influenced by inorganic ions. At the end of the 20th century another fast-rising area of research, epigenetics, began to call into question the view that the genetic information in the genome is the major cause of heredity and development. In what may be called an extended version of epigenetics, chromatin marks, i.e. small molecules bonded to DNA or histones, form another type of inheritance and are suitable for bringing about a “Lamarckian" kind of evolution. Based on historical sketches of biocolloidy, epigenetics, and extended epigenetics, I will demonstrate similarities in reasoning and attitudes across differences of time, as well as analyze the scientific and philosophical motivation behind them.
"Engineering" life, mechanistic biology, and basic biological principles - Ute Deichmanm
Abstract:
This paper elucidates the scientific and philosophical origin and further development of the concept of 'engineering' life by focusing on the experimental biologist Jacques Loeb (1859-1924). I show, first, that Loeb's 'engineering' approach was strongly influenced by the philosophy of Ernst Mach; understanding life meant controlling life phenomena through physical or chemical means. I then analyse Loeb's transition from the positivist-'engineering' approach to a causal mechanistic one, based on a physicochemical concept of life. The ideas that biological specificity is based on protein diversity and that the synthesis of life must begin with the synthesis of the genetic material were central. Third, I argue that experimental control and prediction have recently been fruitfully combined with causal-mechanistic research in experimental systems biology, such as research on gene regulatory networks, and synthetic biology.
Interview Project:
Scientific autonomy and values in science. Historical-philosophical analysis of the current debate and confrontation with case studies
A series of interviews of former Soviet/Russian scientists emigrated in Israel, about their experience and conception of the relationship between science and (nonscientific) values, in the scope of Philippe Stamenkovic’s postdoctoral project at the Jacques Loeb Center for the History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
- Introduction to interviews
- Anonymous, interviewed by Philippe Stamenkovic
- Alex Khenkin’s interview by Philippe Stamenkovic
Alex Khenkin is a organic chemist at the Weizmann Institute - David Danovich’s interview by Philippe Stamenkovic
David Danovich is a quantum chemist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Michael Gedalin’s interview by Philippe Stamenkovic
Michael Gedalin is a theoretical physicist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Irena Efremenko’s interview by Philippe Stamenkovic
Irena Efremenko is a theoretical chemist at the Weizmann Institute
