Pursuing the Unity of Science: Ideology and Scientific Practice from the Great War to the Cold War (Science, Technology and Culture, 1700-1945)

From 1918 to the late 1940s, a host of influential scientists and intellectuals in Europe and North America were engaged in a number of far-reaching unity of science projects. In this period of deep social and political divisions, scientists collaborated to unify sciences across disciplinary boundaries and to set up the international scientific community as a model for global political co-operation. They strove to align scientific and social objectives through rational planning and to promote unified science as the driving force of human civilization and progress. This volume explores the unity of science movement, providing a synthetic view of its pursuits and placing it in its historical context as a scientific and political force. Through a coherent set of original case studies looking at the significance of various projects and strategies of unification, the book highlights the great variety of manifestations of this endeavour. These range from unifying nuclear physics to the evolutionary synthesis, and from the democratization of scientific planning to the utopianism of H.G. Wells's world state. At the same time, the collection brings out the substantive links between these different pursuits, especially in the form of interconnected networks of unification and the alignment of objectives among them. Notably, it shows that opposition to fascism, using the instrument of unified science, became the most urgent common goal in the 1930s and 1940s. In addressing these issues, the book makes visible important historical developments, showing how scientists participated in, and actively helped to create, an interwar ideology of unification, and bringing to light the cultural and political significance of this enterprise. Pursuing the Unity of Science: Ideology and Scientific Practice from the Great War to the Cold War 2 Science, Technology and Culture, 1700–1945 4 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 List of Figures 9 Notes on Contributors 10 Preface 12 Acknowledgements 13 1 Introduction 14 Unification in Context 15 Unifying Issues 16 Diversity in Unity 17 Notes 21 2 Meanings of Scientific Unity: The Law, the Orchestra, the pyramid, the Quilt and the Ring 24 The Law 24 The Orchestra 27 The Pyramid and the Quilt 31 The Ring 35 Notes 37 3 The Unifying Vision: Julian Huxley, Evolutionary Humanism and the Evolutionary Synthesis 40 Julian Huxley and Evolutionary Humanism 41 The Post-War Period 46 Huxley’s Unifying Vision Extended 50 Closing Thoughts 53 Notes 54 4 Unity Through Experiment? Reductionism, Rhetoric and the Politics of Nuclear Science, 1918–40 57 Radioactivity, the ‘Radioactivists’ and the ‘Heroic Age’ of Nuclear Science 59 Reductionism Rampant? The Nuclear Atom in the Public Sphere 63 Reductionism Undermined: Discipline, Dissent and Reform 66 Material Culture, the Media and the Rise of Nuclear Physics, 1928–34 70 Conclusion 75 Notes 77 5 Scientists of the World Unite: Socialist Internationalism and the Unity of Science 83 The Olympics of Science 84 Mediations Between Nations 86 Socialist Internationalism 89 Dutch Debates 92 British Backgrounds 95 Unified Unifications 97 Epilogue 99 Acknowledgements 100 Notes 100 6 Government as Scientific Process in H.G. Wells’s World State 105 Wells’s World State 105 The Way to the World 107 Inner Workings 111 Encyclopaedism 112 Wells’s World 115 Acknowledgement 119 Notes 119 7 Unifying Science Against Fascism: Neuropsychiatry and Medical Education in the Spanish Civil War 122 Science and Republic 122 Science and Republican War Propaganda 127 The Valdecilla Hospital and Wenceslao López Albo 130 The Free School of Medicine 133 The Ramón Pelayo Farm-Asylum 135 Conclusions 140 Acknowledgements 141 Notes 141 8 ‘To Formulate a Plan for Better Living’: Visual Communication and Scientific Planning in Paul Rotha’s Documentary Films, 1935–45 145 Paul Rotha in the 1930s: Documentary, Architecture and Science 145 The Phoney War and Beyond: Working on War Aims 150 Rotha Films: Social Aspects of the War, Post-War Problems and Planning 153 Rotha and Neurath 156 Conclusion: Visuality and Modernity 161 Acknowledgements 162 Notes 162 9 Unifying Science and Human Culture: The Promotion of the History of Science by George Sarton and Frans Verdoorn 167 History of Science and World Peace 169 Unity and Biohistory 174 Ends and Means 178 Humanising Science 181 Notes 183 10 The Unity of Knowledge and the Diversity of Knowers: Science as an Agent of Cultural Integration in the United States between the Two World Wars 187 Acknowledgement 198 Notes 198 11 McCarthyism in Philosophy and the End of the Unity of Science Ideology 201 Logical Empiricism and the Unity of Science Movement in America 201 Apolitical Philosophy of Science 204 On the Battlefront 205 The wrath of Sidney Hook 209 Conclusion 211 Acknowledgements 212 Notes 212 Index 214 Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. Introduction / Geert Somsen -- 2. Meanings Of Scientific Unity: The Law, The Orchestra, The Pyramid, The Quilt And The Ring / Peter Galison -- 3. Unifying Vision: Julian Huxley, Evolutionary Humanism And The Evolutionary Synthesis / Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis -- 4. Unity Through Experiment? Reductionism, Rhetoric And The Politics Of Nuclear Science, 1918 -- 40 / Jeff Hughes -- 5. Scientists Of The World Unite: Socialist Internationalism And The Unity Of Science / Geert Somsen -- 6. Government As Scientific Process In H.g. Wells's World State / Geert Somsen -- 7. Unifying Science Against Fascism: Neuropsychiatry And Medical Education In The Spanish Civil War / Rafael Huertas -- 8. `to Formulate A Plan For Better Living': Visual Communication And Scientific Planning In Paul Rotha's Documentary Films, 1935 -- 45 / Timothy Boon -- 9. Unifying Science And Human Culture: The Promotion Of The History Of Science By George Sarton And Frans Verdoorn / Bert Theunissen -- 10. Unity Of Knowledge And The Diversity Of Knowers: Science As An Agent Of Cultural Integration In The United States Between The Two World Wars / David A. Hollinger -- 11. Mccarthyism In Philosophy And The End Of The Unity Of Science Ideology / George Reisch. Edited By Harmke Kamminga And Geert Somsen. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.