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SUMMARY:Physico-chemical biology in practice\, 1920s–1930s - Caterina Sc
 hürch (LMU München)
DTSTART:20180219T130000Z
DTEND:20180219T140000Z
UID:TALK98596@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sebestian Kroupa
DESCRIPTION:During the interwar period\, 'physico-chemical biology' was in
 stitutionalised on an unprecedented scale. A group of eminent researchers\
 , science managers and philanthropists promoted the view that physical and
  chemical concepts and methods could and should be adopted in biology. My 
 talk is concerned with the practical implementation of this vision: how di
 d researchers (from the physical and the biological sciences) identify bio
 logical problems that were to be approached from a physico-chemical standp
 oint? And\, after all\, why did they decide to work on problems at the int
 erface between the physical and life sciences? I will introduce four inter
 war research programs in which physical or chemical methods and concepts w
 ere used to investigate biological phenomena: research on plant growth hor
 mones in Utrecht and Pasadena\; Selig Hecht's work on the physical and che
 mical basis of vision\; Cambridge biochemist Rose Scott-Moncrieff's study 
 of the biochemical basis of flower colour inheritance\; and the activities
  of Prague's 'biological-physical working group'. The talk will focus on t
 he early phases of these research programs and show how these cross-discip
 linary studies were planned\, implemented\, and evaluated. The analysis em
 phasises the material and technological conditions of the modern life scie
 nces and\, at the same time\, provides insights into the methodological no
 rms that shaped scientists' actual research actions. Secondly\, it promise
 s to speak to the motivations behind cross-disciplinary research collabora
 tions. I will argue that researchers were willing to cooperate with practi
 tioners from other disciplines\, since they recognised their epistemical i
 nterdependence.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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