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The second half of the twentieth century brought extraordinary transformations in knowledge and practice of the life sciences. In an era of decolonization, mass social welfare policies, and the formation of new international institutions such as UNESCO and the WHO, monumental advances were made in both theoretical and practical applications of the life sciences, including the discovery of life's molecular processes and substantive improvements in global public health and medicine. Combining perspectives from the history of science and world history, this volume examines the impact of major world-historical processes of the postwar period on the evolution of the life sciences. Contributors consider the long-term evolution of scientific practice, research, and innovation across a range of fields and subfields in the life sciences, and in the context of Cold War anxieties and ambitions. Together, they examine how the formation of international organizations and global research programs allowed for transnational exchange and cooperation, but in a period rife with competition and nationalist interests, which influenced dramatic changes in the field as the postcolonial world order unfolded.
E-Book Content
Global Transformations in the Life Sciences, 1945–1980
Global Transformations in the Life Sciences, 1945–1980 Edited by Patrick Manning & Mat Savelli University of Pittsburgh Press
Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260 Copyright © 2018, University of Pittsburgh Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 13: 978-0-8229-4527-7 Jacket art: Ethiopian poster illustrating the activities of the Smallpox Eradication Programme © World Health Organization/Ato Tesfaye, 1975 Jacket design by Alex Wolfe
CONTENTS
Foreword by Joanna Radin Preface Acknowledgments
vii ix xiii
Introduction. Life Sciences in the Era of Decolonization, Social Welfare, and Cold War Patrick Manning
1
Chapter 1. India Abroad: The Transnational Network of Indian-Trained Physicians after Partition David Wright, Sasha Mullally, and Renée Saucier
15
Chapter 2. The Postcolonial Context of Daniel Bovet’s Research on Curare Daniele Cozzoli
31
Chapter 3. The Disappointment of Smallpox Eradication and Economic Development Bob H. Reinhardt
47
Chapter 4. “Dermatoglyphics” and Race after the Second World War: The View from East Asia Daniel Asen
61
Chapter 5. Global Epidemiology, Local Message: Sino-American Collaboration on Cancer Research, 1969–1990 Lijing Jiang
78
vi
CONTENTS
Chapter 6. From Sovietization to Global Soviet Engagement? Doubravka Olšáková
99
Chapter 7. Sexological Spring? The 1968 International Gathering of Sexologists in Prague as a Turning Point Kateřina Lišková
114
Chapter 8. The “Brain Gain Thesis” Revisited: German-Speaking Émigré Neuroscientists and Psychiatrists in North America Frank W. Stahnisch 128 Chapter 9. What’s in a Zone? Biological Order versus National Identity in the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study Audra J. Wolfe
146
Chapter 10. For the Benefit of Humankind: Urgent Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, 1965–1968 Adrianna Link
160
Chapter 11. What Counts as Threatened? Science and the Sixth Extinction Jon Agar
180
Notes Bibliography List of Contributors Index
195 259 303 309
FOREWORD
Long before anyone was talking about “the Anthropocene,” thoughtful observers of the post-1945 world saw the life sciences as central to imagining the human future on a plan