Co-Opting Colleagues: Appropriating Dobzhansky's 1936 Lectures at Columbia
Journal of the History of Biology 35 (2):207 - 219 (2002)
| Abstract | This paper clarifies the chronology surrounding the population geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky's 1937 book, "Genetics and the Origin of Species." Most historians assume (a) Dobzhansky's book began as a series of 'Jesup lectures,' sponsored by the Department of Zoology at Columbia University in 1936, and (b) before these lectures were given, Dobzhansky knew he would produce a volume for the Columbia Biological Series (CBS). Archival evidence forces a rejection of both assumptions. Dobzhansky's 1936 Columbia lectures were not Jesup lectures. The book he intended to write from his lectures began as a stand-alone text in evolutionary genetics; the CBS had been defunct since 1910. In May 1937 -- seven months after Dobzhansky's Columbia lectures -- Leslie Dunn lobbied Columbia University to revive the CBS and the Jesup lecture series. He then quietly back dated, naming Dobzhansky a Jesup lecturer and co-opting his book manuscript as the first volume in the revived CBS. A detailed chronology of this 1936-1937 period is provided. This relocates the CBS and Jesup revivals within the narrow context of zoology at Columbia University. These helped Dunn and colleagues define cutting edges and define themselves as managers and promoters of those edges. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,875 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesLeah Ceccarelli (1995). A Rhetoric of Interdisciplinary Scientific Discourse: Textual Criticism of Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species. Social Epistemology 9 (2):91 – 111.
R. T. Eddison (1954). Book Review:Genetics and the Origin of the Species Theodosius Dobzhansky. [REVIEW] Philosophy of Science 21 (3):272-.
Anya Plutynski (2008). "Speciation and Macroevolution". In Sahotra Sarkar & Anya Plutynski (eds.), Blackwell's Companion to Philosophy of Biology. Blackwell's/Routledge.
Melinda Gormley (2009). Scientific Discrimination and the Activist Scientist: L. C. Dunn and the Professionalization of Genetics and Human Genetics in the United States. Journal of the History of Biology 42 (1):33 - 72.
D. J. Allan (1937). V. C. B. Coutant: Alexander of Aphrodisias: Commentary on Book IV of Aristotle's Meteorologica (English Translation with Introduction and Notes). Pp. 99. New York: Columbia University, 1936. Paper. [REVIEW] The Classical Review 51 (05):201-.
Francisco Jose Ayala & Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (eds.) (1974). Studies in the Philosophy of Biology: Reduction and Related Problems. University of California Press.
H. I. Bell (1933). W. L. Westermann and C. W. Keyes: Tax Lists and Transportation Receipts From Theadelphia. (Columbia Papyri, Greek Series, II.) Pp. Xi + 219; 2 Plates (Facsimiles). New York: Columbia University Press (London: Milford), 1932. Cloth, $6.00. [REVIEW] The Classical Review 47 (06):247-.
John C. Greene & Michael Ruse (1996). On the Nature of the Evolutionary Process: The Correspondence Between Theodosius Dobzhansky and John C. Greene. Biology and Philosophy 11 (4):445-491.
W. Mays (1956). A Philosophy of the Real and Possible. By Harry Todd Costello. Woodbridge Lectures No. 4. Columbia University Press. (London: Geoffrey Cumberlege. 1954. Pp 153. Price 22s. Net.). [REVIEW] Philosophy 31 (118):261-.
John Rawls (2007). Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
T. C. Skeat (1935). W. L. Westermann and E. S. Hasenoehrl : Zenon Papyri, Vol. I. Pp. X+177; 8 Facsimiles. (Columbia Papyri, Greek Series, Vol. III.) New York: Columbia University Press (London : Milford), 1934. Cloth, $ 6.00 or 30s. [REVIEW] The Classical Review 49 (01):38-.
D. D. Todd (2001). The Columbia History of Western Philosophy Richard H. Popkin, Editor New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, Xxxvi + 836 Pp., $59.95. [REVIEW] Dialogue 40 (02):389-.
A. Wolf (1932). The Education of Jeremy Bentham. By Charles Warren Everett, Instructor in English, Columbia University. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1931. Pp. Xxii + 216. Price 16s. 6d. Net.). [REVIEW] Philosophy 7 (28):500-.
H. I. Bell (1958). Documents From Theadelphia John Day and Clinton Walker Keyes: Columbia Papyri. Greek Series, V: Tax Documents From Theadelphia. Pp. Xviii + 342; 2 Plates. New York: Columbia University Press (London: Oxford University Press, 1956.) Cloth, 80s. Net. [REVIEW] The Classical Review 8 (01):62-63.
Analytics
Monthly downloads
Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
|
Added to index2011-05-29Total downloads1 ( #277,212 of 556,837 )Recent downloads (6 months)0How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
