HistSci133
Which best explains the difficulty scientists encountered in both the Kennewick Man and HGDP situations:
Scientists failed to account for non-scientists' understandings of race.
The Nobel Prize is controversial because it:
Reinforces the "great person" story of science by limiting the number of people who can win to three
The EPA officials involved in the Love Canal controversy thought that Lois Gibbs' Swale Theory was:
"Housewife" science and could not be trusted
The gene as a cultural icon
"The Gene as a Cultural Icon" is a piece written by Nelkin and Lindee in 1995. This phrase refers to how the equating of human beings with their genes in scientific literature allowed for popular culture to shape a cultural meaning of genes. This is significant because it shows that the way scientific concepts are presented by scientists may serve social ideologies and institutional agendas. This makes it difficult to distinguish hard science from public opinion or the political landscape of the time.
Localized and Distributed Modes
-Localized: Told by a few, short length of time, aha moment, focused on aha, skepticism, and biographical details -Distributed: longer period of time, multiple people contributing to discovery, types of events: concept + execution, technical details, publication, and uptake into field The significance of this is that each story of a particular invention or discovery can be told in different ways and each highlights different aspects of the story. Telling stories in particular ways can influence who gets credit, can profit from, or control the new technologies developed.
The Human Genome Project
A large project that took place in the 90's in an attempt to code the entire human genome. This was significant because it was an expansion of the big collaborative projects that rearrange institutions and require large government funding. It represented a transition from big physics to life sciences as many sectors of the government, along with the public, wanted to know what the fallout was from the Manhattan project.
Environmental racism occurs when toxic sites are located in areas with
A larger proportion of minority residents compared with than other nearby areas
Moral economy
A moral economy is the unstated rules that define the mutual expectations and obligations of scientific workplace. This phrase was used in reference to the network of strong community that makes a model organism more suitable for research. The moral economy promotes exchange among the community and modulates it.
What type of approach to regulating the risk recombinant DNA technology was preferred by the members of the Cambridge City Council?
A precautionary approach, where the research would not proceed until there was good evidence of its safety
GM Nation
A public debate that took place in Britain in 2002-2003 about GM foods. This resulted in a labelling system and showed that citizens prefer a precautionary approach with Type 1/false positive error. This meeting was significant because it exemplified a transition from PUS (public understanding of science) to PEST (public engagement in science and technology). This model respects democratic ideals, and incorporates lay expertise/different preferences for risk into scientific decision making.
Which of the following would be an example of an activist/community led science project?
A sushi enthusiast believes that his local grocery store is ripping him off by selling cheaper fish labelled as salmon, and buys a PCR machine to test the DNA of the fish himself
Which of the following is NOT a potential downside to citizen science?
Accelerate the pace of scientific research
Activist/community led science
Activist/community led science is an example of citizen science in which research projects are designed by non-scientists. This concept was highlighted during our discussion of the Love Canal, with an example being Lois Gibbs; Gibbs collected epidemiological data, and was able to focus on the health concerns that mattered most to the local community involved in the project for this. This concept is significant to the course because it exemplifies how public engagement in science can help to shape scientific concerns or directions; this type of science enhances democratic ideals by allowing for the investigation of what is of greatest concern to the community, and allowing them to fully engage in the scientific process.
Chernobyl disaster
An accident at a nuclear plant in the Soviet Union on April 26, 1986.
The Asilomar Conference was
An event where scientists gathered together to agree on rules for conducting recombinant DNA experiments
Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA
Asilomar was a conference that first took place in California in 1975. It was an event where scientists gathered together to agree on rules for conducting recombinant DNA experiments, eventually coming up with a risk classification system and imposing a voluntary moratorium on the riskiest research. This is significant for our class because it exemplifies the divide between scientists and non-scientists in the regulation of biotechnology due to differing preferences regarding risk. The conclusions made at the Asilomar Conference among scientists was not enough to ease the minds of non-scientists, creating further mistrust and eventually leading to the Cambridge Biosafety Meeting the following year to bring scientists and non-scientists into agreement.
Four aspects of principalism
Autonomy: honoring individual's rights to make their own decisions - requires the ability to make a choice and freedom from controlling outside influences Nonmaleficence: the duty not to harm or injure others Beneficence: the duty to help others, and prevent or remove harm Justice: fair and appropriate distribution of benefits and burdens
The International Summit on Human Genome Editing differs from the Asilomar conference because
Bioethicists and other experts were invited, not just scientists
Bioprospecting/Biopiracy
Bioprospecting and biopiracy is the phenomenon of Western companies using the patent system to profit from indigenous knowledge. This concept was used in reference to the brazzein plant, which West African people had known was naturally sweet for 100's of years. Researchers "discovered" the plant, then attempted to sell the African community's knowledge back to them, not benefiting the locals at all. This concept is significant to the overall themes of the course because it highlights how biology must be approached from a cross-cultural prospective. Economic and power differentials mean that the same policy, in this case patent law, has different effects elsewhere in the world, causing divides and mistrust between scientists and non-scientists.
Biosociality
Biosociality is the formation of social relationships and the production of identity based on genetic or biological conditions. Examples of this that were utilized in class include 16p11.2 Deletion Syndrome and Phelan-McDermid Syndrome. This concept is significant to the class as a whole because it shows how biology can bring people together to form an identity. Groups formed through biosociality have great power to direct agendas for future research, exemplifying how biology today provides new opportunities for identifying with others, controlling the future fate of biological research, and political action.
Buck v. Bell
Buck v. Bell was a Supreme Court case decided in 1927. The sterilization of Carrie Buck was upheld 8-1 on the grounds of being a "moral imbecile". This case was significant because it characterized the political landscape surrounding eugenics at the time. It established a precedent that the government was granted the ability to promote eugenics for the sake of "public welfare".
Which one of the following is NOT one of the ways that governments contribute to environmental racism, according to Bullard?
By conducting scientific studies to see whether minority neighborhoods are experiencing an unfair burden of pollution compared to white neighborhoods
C57 Black 6
C57 Black 6 is an inbred mouse breed. It is the most universally used mouse among animal research. The story of Black-6 is significant because it shows the tremendous amount of infrastructure and community support that revolves around model organisms to allow their use to proliferate. However, it is also problematic for the scientific community to generalize results from Black-6 experiments with other populations, especially human.
CHESS
CHESS is the Cornell High Energy Synchotron Source at Cornell University in 1979. It was founded to do elementary particle physics, but as big physics funding began to decline, it became devoted to x-ray crystallography. This is significant because it is an example of big physics being used in biology, showing how infrastructure changes as funding changes.
Cartesian mind/body split
Cartesian mind/body split is a view in philosophy that mental phenomena is distinct and separable from the body. This phrase was used in Margaret Lock and Christina Honde's article "Reaching Consensus About Death: Heart Transplants and Cultural Identity in Japan" (1990) to describe how Western society more easily accepts brain death as final. Western culture identifies a human as having a mind that is distinguishable from the body, so brain death is then considered a death of the human itself. This is not the case for the Japanese culture. This concept is significant to the scope of the class because it highlights the need for science to be considered in a cross-cultural lens. What Americans consider to be the death of the self is not universal across all nations, and other countries have different systems of regulating biological advances, such as heart transplantation, that should be considered.
Cesare Lombroso
Cesare Lombroso was an Italian criminologist in the late 19th century. He established criminal anthropology, arguing that physical features like a sloping forehead could distinguish born criminals, and determine who was most likely to become a criminal. He is significant to the course because he is one of the first examples of biological evidence being used in the scope of law. His views established a biological explanation for behavior, and paved the way for many potential connections between biology and law in the future.
Diamond v. Chakrabarty
Diamond v. Chakrabarty is a US Supreme Court decision made in 1980. The question asked here was whether an oil digesting bacteria made through genetic transformation is patentable. The granting of the patent is significant because micro-organisms are now considered a "manufacture", and the fact that they are alive is without legal significance for patent law. This opens up the field for biologists to continue patenting research on inventions considered alive.
Dr. Kent Kiehl
Dr. Kent Kiehl is a neuroscientist at the University of New-Mexico who testified in the Brian Dugan case in 2009. Dr. Kiehl provided the first testimony of fMRI evidence that was admitted in a court room in the United States, arguing that Dugan's psychopathic brain diminished his culpability. As his research included a traveling fMRI that identified psychopathic traits of prison inmates, his expert opinion was used as a mitigating circumstance to fight against a death penalty. He is significant to the course as a whole because his work on this case brings up many of the issues of utilizing biology to describe behavior, particularly in a court room, such as over-relying on brain scan evidence and bias toward new technologies. His testimony signifies an ever-growing relationship between biology and the court room, and highlights some of the challenges of how biological explanations for behavior change our understanding of culpability.
The purpose of Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech was to:
Encourage the sharing of atomic science with other countries to promote world peace
Environmental racism
Environmental racism is any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages individuals, groups, or communities based on race or color. This phenomena was discussed in "Environmental Racism and 'Invisible' Communities" by Dr. Robert Bullard (1994) to describe the ways in which communities of color have increased exposure to hazardous waste, risky technologies, and pesticides. This concept is significant to the class as a whole because it contributes to our Love Canal conversation; the government and legal systems as institutions occasionally fail to protect certain communities from health risks associated with waste.
Following their public hearings on recombinant DNA research, the Cambridge City Council decided to:
Form a Biosafety Committee composed of scientists and members of the public to review and license proposed research
Francis Peyton Rous
Francis Peyton Rous was an American editor for the Journal of Experimental Medicine from 1921-1946. He worked to alter the presentation and description of scientific literature at the time to keep out of the eye of antivivisectionists. This is significant because it shows how scientists change the way they write about their research to suit public opinion.
GM foods
GM foods were first approved in the United States in 1994. These are organisms with changes introduced to their DNA to make them more suitable for the food industry. This is a significant concept because it exemplified that public knowledge does not necessarily equate with public support, but rather trust, values, and identities are a greater predictor of public support of new scientific inventions
Scientist-citizen partnerships and activist/community led science can be distinguished by the degree of citizen participation in:
Generating the research question, collecting the data, analyzing/interpreting the results
What was Harley Kilgore's vision for federal science funding post WWII?
Geographically distributed funds with priorities set by citizens
Ghost management
Ghost management is a term described by our reading "Publication Ethics and the Ghost Management of Medical Publication" by Sismondo and Doucet in 2010. The term refers to the controlling of several crucial steps in research, writing, and publication of scientific articles by pharmaceutical companies. The significance of this is that ghost management presents an ethical problem that has major implications for public health when industry's are allowed to intervene in medical research. This is an example of industry/science relations creating an untrustworthy scientific environment.
Raymond Gosling
Gosling was a British scientist working in the 1950's on x-ray diffraction. He took the famous "photo-51" that was important for solving the structure of DNA. Gosling's story is important because it shows how credit can be unevenly distributed in scientific stories. Stories about the double helix tend to focus on Watson and Crick's theoretical contribution and not Gosling's technical work.
Harry Haiselden
Harry Haiselden was a physician in 1915 in Chicago. He is infamous for his refusal to provide medical care to babies born with physical disabilities. This is significant because it is an example of negative eugenics - the "improving" of the genetic composition of the population by discouraging those with undesirable traits from reproducing. This type of behavior was reflective of the political landscape of the time, which allowed for sterilization against one's will. These behaviors ultimately shaped public perception of medicine and genetics.
Which of the following describes 21st century biological ideas of the self?
Ideas about screening, risk, and prevention have brought many more people who aren't experiencing illness into the sick role.
Previvors can best be described as:
Individuals who have not actually had cancer, but have taken steps to prevent disease that impacted their identities
Which of the following scenarios best describes current scientific theory on the interaction of nature and nurture?
Individuals with a particular gene variant can develop perfect pitch, but only if they receive training at a crucial stage in their early childhood development
The "model organisms" approach to biomedical research became popular because:
It allowed scientists to produce knowledge that would apply to other organisms, and combine their efforts with other researchers who were using the same model
The Human Genome Project could be considered an example of "big science" because:
It involved many researchers, multiple institutions and funders, and lots of money.
Joseph Meister
Joseph Meister was a young French boy in the late 19th century. He was the first person to be saved by Louis Pasteur's rabies vaccine. He is significant to this class because his story is frequently repeated and distorted to become less and less reflective of the actual events. The story of his death has become a myth of exaggeration to portray the importance of Pasteur, which is not accurate. This shows how storytelling can shape our understanding of science.
Lay expertise
Lay expertise was a concept tied to the reading "Science of the Lambs: Chernobyl and the Cumbrian sheepfarmers" by Collins and Pinch in 2014. The definition of the phrase is individuals without formal credentials or training who have expertise on an issue, typically through practical experience. Lay expertise is significant because lay experts typically have different knowledge than traditional experts, and different risk assessments. By engaging lay experts in science, the decision making process is more democratic.
Love Canal
Love Canal is a one mile stretch of canal in Niagara falls that never reached Lake Ontario; it was sold in the 1940's and toxic waste was allowed to be buried in it. Once it was sold back in the 1950's, a neighborhood was built upon it, causing a flurry of health concerns in the mid to late 1970's. Love Canal is significant to the class because it is an example of citizens taking control of science, including reporters taking their own water samples and women like Lois Gibbs conducting data in coordination with scientists. This location highlights phenomenon such as citizen science and activist/community lead science, showing how public engagement in science can work to shape science directives.
Mary Warnock
Mary Warnock was a British bioethicist who worked during the mid to late 20th century, influencing late 20th century STEM cell ideology. She proposed the idea that up until 14 days there was no differentiation between cells and therefore there could not be a nervous system; she wrapped religion and science together to present her argument to the public. By appealing to religious sentiments and using her own wisdom, she bridged the divide between ideologies and made STEM cell research less controversial. She is significant to the scope of the class because she creates an example of how governance over biology looks different across different cultures. The social movement she created is unique to the UK, exemplifying how local people and events can substantially shape reactions to science policy questions.
Merton's Norms
Merton's norms of science of 1942 are institutional imperatives written out to constitute the ethics of modern science. They consists of communism, universalism, disinteredness, and organized skepticism. This is significant because it created a foundation of scientific ethics moving forward into an era of changing laws, practices, and institutions. These fundamental norms have come into question since industry has become invested in science with the Bayh Dole Act.
Mr. Cycle
Mr. Cycle is a thermal cycler invented in the mid 1980's at Cetus Corporation in California. The machine created a heating and cooling cycle to make polymerase chain reactions viable. This invention is important because it demonstrated localized versus distributed modes of storytelling - while Kary Mullis told his story of PCR with a localized mode and did not include any information on Mr. Cylce, Paul Rabinow utilized the distributed mode and claimed Mr. Cycle to be imperative to the invention of PCR. This is an example of how localized and distributed modes of storytelling are formalized into whether there is localized or distributed credit.
World War II was originally called "The Physicists' War" because:
Of the importance placed on physics education by the military
Ordre public
Ordre public was a clause in Europe that related to a 2002 American Supreme Court case - Harvard College v. Canada. This clause states that you can't have legal decisions that go against public morality - i.e. you cannot "own" beings. This clause is significant because a patent was granted in the US without any challenge to any higher organism with any cancer gene implanted. This essentially allows higher life forms to be treated as raw materials, establishing a significant and daunting precedent moving forward for scientific research.
Penicillin
Penicillin is a drug who's anti-bacterial properties were discovered by Andrew Fleming in 1928 in London. The clinical utility was limited due to a short supply, but large scale production began during WWII. This shows that Fleming was not able to revolutionize the industry on his own, but needed collaboration from US Wartime Production board and large laboratories to manufacture the drug on a meaningful scale.
Which of the following best describes how the sick role impacts social obligations?
People occupying the sick role are relieved of some social obligations, but gain others such as the duty to care for themselves.
Previvors
Previvor is the term used for an individual who doesn't have a disease, but is predisposed to a greater risk for having a disease. This term has often been used in the 21st century to describe the experience of women who are genetically disposed to getting breast cancer. This concept is significant to the class because it is an example of the barrier between sick and healthy breaking down, making individuals no longer one or the other, but somewhere in between. This creates a unique "sick role", and highlights how biology today provides a new way to think about ourselves and our health.
Which of the following is best described as a "custodial" pregnancy, in Thompson's terms?
Rachel will gestate an embryo made from her sister-in-law Kay's eggs and Kay's husband's sperm, and Kay is the intended mother
Ray Wu
Ray Wu is a geneticist at Cornell University in the 1980's. He conducted and designed new genes that would be transcribed and expressed in a plant with the new technology of the "gene gun". He is significant because he was left out of the patent rights for the gene gun, exemplifying the consequences of storytelling on who gets credit in science. If a story is told in a localized fashion, meaningful contributors, such as Wu, are left out of the benefits of the invention and decisions made regarding it.
Who took photo 51 and why is this detail significant?
Raymond Gosling. This detail is significant because we often forget about all the "actors" in scientific stories.
The reason that the Atomic Energy Commission repurposed the X-10 reactor to distribute radioisotopes was that they wanted to:
Rebrand the image of atomic science to focus on peace and not war
Scientism
Scientism is the ideology that science is the only valid way to understand the world and solve social problems. This concept was introduced in "How science has shifted our sense of identity" by Nathaniel Comfort (2019) in order to argue that defining the self in strictly biological terms through genome and DNA technology takes a great deal away from one's identity that is also deeply entangled with their social roles. This concept is significant to the class as a whole because it addresses the ways that biological technologies have altered our identities and changed the way we see our "authentic self". It relates broadly to the 20th century debate on nature versus nurture, and provides a new lens to investigate humanity through biology.
Citizen- scientist partnerships
Scientist-citizen partnerships are an example of citizen science in which non-scientists are involved, but scientists strongly control research questions and and process. This concept was highlighted during our discussion of Love Canal, with an example being Old Weather: Our Weather's Past project where non-scientists were asked to annotate and transcribe old weather logs to get them involved. Citizen-science partnerships are significant to the class because they exemplify how public engagement in science can help to shape scientific concerns or directions; these partnerships enhance democratic ideals by investigating what is important to the community and allowing them to engage in the scientific process.
A co-productionist view of the Human Genome Diversity Project would emphasize:
That the definition of a "race" is based on both biological and social information
Bayh-Dole Act
The Bayh-Dole Act was an act created in 1980 in the USA. This allowed universities to patent inventions and discoveries that occurred at the university with federal money. This is significant because it marked a historical turning point that changes university-industry relations. This act has raised many questions about the fundamental norms of the ethics of science now that laws are enacted for scientists to profit from their research.
Cambridge Biosafety Committee
The Cambridge Biosafety Committee was designed in 1976 in Cambridge, Massachusetts through the Cambridge City Council Hearings. This group regulates and licenses DNA recombinant research, and includes members of the general public with no ties to the industry as well as scientists. The creation of this committee is significant to the class because it exemplifies a situation in which scientists and non-scientists held different preferences and tolerances in regard to risk assessment, as well as an attempt to bridge the gap of mistrust between scientists and non-scientists through public engagement in science.
Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP)
The Human Genome Diversity Project was created in the 1990's by Stanford University. The project intended to record the genetic profiles of indigenous populations, but was never fully launched due to the controversy. Due to the concerns over how governments would use racial data and lack of benefit to local people since researchers would hold all the patents, the HGDP is significant to the course as a whole because it is an example of scientists failing to realize that scientific and social definitions of race are linked, causing a breakdown of trust. It is illustrative of how scientific work on biological categories can't be disconnected from social ones, and ignoring coproduction may lead to the failure of scientific projects.
International Summit on Humane Gene Editing
The International Summit on Human Gene Editing was a meeting held in Washington, DC on December 1-3, 2015. Scientists, bioethicists, and other experts came together to discuss a new biotechnology that makes precise gene editing to the human genome possible - CRISPR. This meeting is significant to the course themes because it's an example, similar to the Asilomar Conference, of scientists attempting to self-regulate biotechnologies without input from the public. Because scientists and non-scientists have different risk preferences and tolerances, this meeting created a risk for mistrust between the public and scientists by not allowing for public engagement.
Kennewick Man
The Kennewick Man is a set of skeletal remains found in Washington in 1996 that are 8000 to 9000 years old. Local tribes argued that the remains are Native American and therefore they should get the rights to the body, while scientists argued that Kennewick man was not genetically related to current tribe members. As the Kennewick man's DNA ended up being related to the current tribe, the significance of this discovery to the scope of the class is that American scientists destroyed relationships with non-scientists Native Americans. This is an example of how definitions of race can conflict between non-scientists and scientists, and that ignoring the coproduction of both biological and social categories of race can lead to failure of scientific incentives.
RNA Tie Club
The RNA Tie Club was an organization founded by a group of 20 scientists in England in 1954. The club was founded in order to solve the riddle of RNA structure and understand how it built proteins. The RNA Tie Club is important because it exemplifies the concept of "presentist stories" - we know now that DNA is the molecule of heredity. At the time, however, RNA was thought to be the molecule of heredity. The stories we tell now of Watson and Crick do not include their involvement in the RNA Tie Club or research on RNA because we have shaped our stories to fit present day ideas.
Sillman-Whitney Controversy
The Sillman-Whitney controversy took place in 1873 between members of the US National Academy of Sciences. One member demanded the expulsion of another member for accepting large sums of money from California oil companies in return for favorable, possibly fraudulent, science. This controversy is significant because it marks an important decision in the beginning of science and industry relations. Private companies have now become valuable patrons, supplying funds and problems to be researched. The commoditization of science has lead to many questions of the ethics of marketplace research.
The "authentic self"
The authentic self is the idea that an individual is acting and thinking in a way that aligns with their true identity, physically and emotionally. This concept was discussed in Ilina Singh's article "Will the 'Real Boy' Please Behave: Dosing Dilemmas for Parents with Boys with ADHD" (2005). This concept is significant in the scope of the course because it highlights the issues that arise when illnesses, particularly illnesses of the brain, impact one's sense of self.
John Hinckley Jr. case
The case of John Hinckley Jr. occurred in 1982 following the attempted assassination of President Reagan. CT scans of Hinckley's brain showed enlarged ventricles, allowing his lawyers to plead the insanity defense. The case was decided that Hinckley was not guilty by reason of insanity. This case is significant in the scope of this course because it is an example of neuroscience being used to shape criminal law; the case allowed for biological explanations of behavior to change the public's understanding of culpability. It opened the door wider for law and neuroscience to become more intertwined.
Deficit model
The deficit model was introduced in relation to public understanding and support of science. The model states that non-scientists are deficient in scientific knowledge, and this deficit is the reason they don't support scientific research, or make poor decisions. If we give the public more information, they will make better decisions/support science. This concept is significant because it is a model that has little empirical support, as it has been shown that knowledge does not equate with support.
The 1950 UNESCO declaration on race argued that:
The idea of "race" was mostly a social myth and not a biological phenomenon
"The 'physicist's war'"
The physicists war was a phrase used to describe World War II. While it is oftentimes thought to represent the ways physics helped changed the technology of the war, such as with the Manhattan Project, it is actually argued to reference the intense push for physics education and the takeover of physicists in academia during the war. This is significant because it was one of the first times that the military intervened in academia, showing the influence of two large institutions on each other, and the effect that they both could have on science.
The Sick Role
The sick role is a concept to describe how ill people are released from certain social obligations (going to class), but gain new obligations (taking care of yourself), and if you don't follow the role, people might judge or blame you for your continued illness. This concept is significant to the class as a whole because it is an example of biology shaping individual's identities and actions, on a personal and a collective level; biology today provides new ways of thinking about ourselves and our health.
Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics
This is a Supreme Court case decided in 2013. The case was a challenge of the patent over BRCA 1 and 2 genes because Myriad Genetics was monopolizing the testing materials for these genes. This case was significant because it decided that isolated gene sequences are not patentable, thus tipping the balances out of the control of scientists and back towards the good of the public.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
This is a journal that was founded in 1945 by Manhattan Project scientists in America. It engages science leaders, policy makers, and interested public on the topics of nuclear weapons and disarmament, climate change, and technology. This is significant because it displays the beginnings of scientists taking on more political roles and maintaining the social importance of scientific advancements.
Backdoor to eugenics
This is a phrase introduced in 1990 by Troy Duster. The phrase refers to eugenics done by personal choice, rather than by government intervention, such as selective abortion. This is significant because genetic counseling may be leading to fewer and fewer of particular individuals that society has deemed undesirable, therefore eliminating a certain kind of person from the human landscape.
"Mind of a Worm"
This was a comprehensive map of every nerve in the C. elegans model organism, published in 1986 from Cambridge. This was shared with the C. elegans community to allow for other scientists to make use of preexisting data. This is significant because it demonstrates how good infrastructure was built around model organisms.
"Science: The Endless Frontier"
This was a report published by Vannevar Bush in 1945 in Time magazine. It claimed that funding should be "free from political influence" with a focus on basic science, which will eventually translate into benefits for industry and society. This idea is significant because it portrays the new developing identity of individuals needing to work between military and academics. Articles such as these exemplify the change in science from an individual activity to a complex hierarchical industry.
"Atoms for Peace" Speech
This was a speech given by President Eisenhower in 1953. The speech discussed the selling of radioisotopes to other countries across the world in order to use science to strengthen political ties and bring nations together. The significance of this speech was that it demonstrates how infrastructure becomes used/repurposed to fit political and cultural needs as much as scientific ones.
Type 1/Type II erros
Type 1 error: false positive - more stringent regulatory process Type II error: false negative - less stringent regulatory process
UNESCO Declaration on Race
UNESCO Declaration on Race is a document released on July 18, 1950 by the United Nations. It was authored by leading scientists in sociology, anthropology, and biology, and separated out biological from cultural definitions of race. It asserted that most of what we consider race is cultural (language, traditions), and using science for this sort of classification is inappropriate. This declaration is significant to the course as a whole because it is an example of how scientific theories of race have changed over time and conflicted with non-scientists ideas about race. It highlights the ways that biological and social categories are intertwined, and how separating them can become difficult.
Which of the following is NOT considered to be a biosocial group
UW-Madison Class of 2022
"Presentist" stories still have some issues telling the history of science because they:
Use present day ideas to understand the past
Two different types of animal rights philosophies?
Utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number Rights based: animals have some basic rights just like humans do - research is ethical when it meets standards required for humans
Vitamin D Milk
Vitamin D Milk was an invention at the University of Wisconsin-Madison made by Henry Steenbock in the 1920's. This invention was patented in order to protect the public from patent pirates, to prevent advertiser's from making unscientific claims, and to protect WI's dairy industry. This is significant because it shows that although practices have changed, allowing researchers to patent their inventions, scientific norms have not changed. Patenting is less about money than it is about serving the public good by moving inventions to market.
WEIRD subjects
WEIRD subjects are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. This acronym is used to describe the shortcomings of the typical population that participates in research, or that research focuses on. These subjects are psychological outliers on most tests, and are not representative of the world population. This term is significant to the overall scope of the course because it captures the need to adapt cross-cultural perspectives in science. Only using WEIRD subjects skews data to only reflect aspects of our own culture, rather than universal truths.
In his article "How Science has Shifted our Sense of Identify", Nathaniel Comfort's main argument is:
While science has frequently expanded ideas about the self and identity, scientism has constrained them.
X-10 Reactor
X-10 Reactor is a piece of infrastructure to power uranium/atomic research during WWII at Oak Ride National Laboratory. It was eventually repurposed to make isotopes of other elements, such as radioisotopes. The importance of this is that the radioisotopes had significant uses for ecology and biology, demonstrating how infrastructure can fuel many projects depending on the agenda of the time.
"Presentist" History
using present day ideas or interpretations to understand the past - as we change, the stories we tell change EX: RNA was thought to be heredity model for much of the second half the 20th century, but now that we know DNA/genome is molecule of heredity, we only tell the stories of DNA - we distort historical evidence and leave out what was important THEN (photo of Watson and Crick with DNA double helix was not published in 1953 because it was not found to be interesting, original double helix model was scrapped and not found until 1970s, Queen Elizabeth II was given model of myoglobin in 1962 because DNA was still not considered a top story)
