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  1. Home
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  3. Nationalism and Internationalism in Science, 1880–1939
  • Cited by 64
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
November 2009
Print publication year:
1992
Online ISBN:
9780511599699
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511599699
Subjects:
History of Science and Technology, History
Information

Book description

The founding of the Nobel Prize in 1901 confirmed the internationalisation of science. The workings of the Nobel institution rested on an international community of scientists who forwarded candidates for the prizes. Along with the candidates and eventual prizewinners, they constituted the Nobel population, which in the fields of chemistry and physics between 1901 and 1939 numbered over one thousand scientist renown from twenty-five countries. Crawford uses this Nobel population for prosopographic studies that shed new light on national and international science between 1901 and 1939. Her four studies examine the following problems: the upsurge of nationalism among scientists of warring nations during and after World War I; the existence of a scientific centre and periphery in Central Europe; the élite conception of science in the United States; and the effective use of the Nobel prizes in an organisation whose primary purpose was to further national science.

Reviews

"...takes a step toward breaking through to the large-scale categories of historical analysis that are commonplace in the mainstream historical community but have been lacking among historians of science." Kathryn M. Olesko, Science

"In none of her studies does Crawford shy from considering developments in scientific theory and experiment, the peculiarities of the Swedish scientific community and the goals of the Nobel prize committees. Such a historical understanding must supplement any quantitative analysis of sociological variables if we are to appreciate how the prizes reflect national and international scientific relations. It is for this reason that her book is such a success." Diana Barkan, Nature

"...departs from the commonly held notion that universalism and internationalism are inherent features of science. Showing how the rise of scientific organizations around the turn of the century centered on national scientific enterprises, Crawford argues that scientific activities of the late nineteenth century were an integral part of the emergence of the nation-state in Europe.

"...much more than a mere history of these prizes. She questions the assumption that science is and always has been universal. Scientific internationalism, science as an activity and a social institution, is often confused with scientific universalism, science as an abstract method for establishing universally valid knowledge....Crawford demonstrates that the similarities between American Nobel laureates and nonwinning candidates outweigh the differences, and she rejects the argument that Nobel Prizes constitute objective measures of social stratification in science." Mark Walker, ISIS

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