The intellectual origins of molecular biology are usually traced back to the 1930s. By contrast, molecular biology acquired a social reality only around 1960. To understand how it came to designate a community of researchers and a professional identity, I examine the creation of the first institutes of molecular biology, which took place around 1960, in four European countries: Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Switzerland. This paper shows how the creation of these institutes was linked to the results of (...) post-war economic reconstruction. Then, it compares how the promoters of these different institutional projects delimited the goals of their discipline, reflected on its history, and suggested how research should be organised. I show how they carefully positioned their new discipline within the emerging national science policy discourse of the 1950s, and aligned it with the current vision of scientific modernity. In particular, I discuss how they articulated the meaning of molecular biology with respect to five common themes: the role of physics in the atomic age, the relations between fundamental research and medical applications, the 'Americanisation' of scientific research, the value of science in the reconstruction of national identities, and the drive towards interdisciplinary research. This paper thus demonstrates that beyond the local and national accounts there is a European history of molecular biology. (shrink)

In a series of essays, Miss Rand expounds her "Objectivist Ethics." Man will discover, if he is sufficiently rational, those goals and values which are peculiar to him alone, i.e., those which will enable him to survive, and which require complex thought processes. The result of this search is that the moral man is he who achieves his maximum happiness; relationships, whether economic or emotional, are to be based on trade, and no interests conflict if they are viewed in a (...) properly wide context. The essays are quite readable, although not so arresting as Miss Rand's novels; however, the ethics collapses when it is applied to a populous society whose environment is either agriculturally poor or highly mechanized. Given these conditions, if a man views his interest from the limited standpoint of Objectivism, there is a necessary conflict of interests.—J. M. B. (shrink)

A comprehensive study of Plato's last and most difficult work. Professor Morrow's theme is that in the Laws Plato is applying his basic principles to the precise historical conditions of his time, out of consuming interest in the moral and political development of mankind. The concept of the "mixture" or "mean," as developed in the Politicus and Philebus, is treated as the key to the philosophical interpretation of the Laws, law itself being the "limit"; human nature, the natural environment, and (...) existing laws and customs, the "unlimited." Prof. Morrow places the weight of his interpretation on the latter, since a determination of the actual character of Greek institutions, as Plato knew, seems essential to a correct analysis of the "composite" institutions we find in the Laws.--. (shrink)

This book, besides meeting a definite need in the field of Kantian ethical studies, is excellent. Professor Beck treats the Practical Reason as an exemplification of a general Kantian method applied to problems organic to the Kantian system as a whole. His interpretation of the 'Transcendental deduction' of the Principle of Pure Practical Reason is particularly brilliant; the Principle is shown to be established in precisely the form required for a complete resolution of the third antinomy of the Critique of (...) Pure Reason, and the procedure has the further warrant of showing the validity of the "deduction" of chapter III of the "Grundlegung."--J. B. (shrink)

Many of the selections included are readily available, but the editor has earned our gratitude for reprinting the series of seven papers read before the Aristotelian Society from 1915-1923, and for making readily accessible the 1927 essay, "Time." The somewhat lengthy introduction adds little to the value of the book, and is occasionally inaccurate. --B. J. H.

Solmsen presents an interesting discussion of Aristotle's physical theory. He considers each topic, such as genesis, time, the infinite, in terms of Aristotle's similarities and differences with Pre-Socratic and Platonic thought. His results are piece-meal because "Aristotle himself does not investigate each topic of his physical system with his mind focused on a final synthesis of all major conclusions."--J. A. B.

Sherburne has the two-fold purpose of framing an aesthetic theory which gains its coherence and clarity by its derivation from a speculative system, and of exploring the adequacy of that system by applying it to one dimension of experience. He begins by developing clearly the categorial notions of Whitehead's mature philosophy and exhibiting them as integral parts of the speculative scheme, and in some cases revising and reformulating them significantly. Using this material, he then frames an aesthetic theory treating such (...) questions as the ontological status of a work of art, aesthetic experience, and artistic creation. A well-written study that illuminates some of the more difficult aspects of Whitehead's thought, and contributes to the discussion of the metaphysical issues of aesthetics.--B. J. H. (shrink)

Twenty-four scientists and philosophers contribute to this volume, which constitutes the proceedings of the 1959 meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Six symposia deal with theory construction; empirical and conventional elements in physical theory; induction, probability and simplicity; the logic of variables and constants; philosophical issues of quantum theory; and the methodology of psychology and the social sciences. Many of the contributions are excellent; most deal with controversial issues, and generate considerable life in the discussions and (...) commentaries.--B. J. H. (shrink)

This historico-critical analysis of the concept of mass is the third in Jammer's series of studies of fundamental physical concepts. His fascinating account traces its intricate historical evolution from early notions of matter and the medieval concept of mass as quantitas materiae to the dynamic conceptions of mass. The concept is followed through the three stages of conceptualization ; systematization ; and formalization. Jammer further treats mass in relation to the electromagnetic theories; special and general relativity; quantum mechanics and the (...) theory of elementary particles; and the modern "space-theories" of matter. He concludes that no final clarification of the concept has yet been attained, despite the efforts of both physicists and philosophers. This difficult material is handled with great scholarship and control, skillfully interpreted, and concisely presented --B. J. H. (shrink)

In this introduction to social problems, sixteen social scientists discuss the major forms of deviant behavior and social disorganization. The introduction attempts to elicit the general theoretical orientation which is implicit in the specialized studies making up the main body of the book.--B. J. H.

In this inaugural address, a professor of applied mathematics develops the theme that new concepts such as "entropy" introduced in the mathematical description of nature have an influence far beyond the mathematical sciences, extending to such diverse fields as biology, the social sciences, religion, philosophy, literary analysis, etc.--B. J. H.