Brightening Biochemistry: Humor, identity, and scientific work at the sir william dunn institute of biochemistry, 1923–1931
Name
710666.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
4.63 MB
Format
Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
d3acc5de58ae4a2359cf7836f7e7793d
Author(s)
Scheffler, Robin W
Date Issued
September 1, 2020
Journal
ISIS
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© 2020 by The History of Science Society. In the 1920s, scientists at the University of Cambridge’s Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry made major contributions to the emerging discipline of biochemistry while also devoting considerable time and energy to the production of a humor journal entitled Brighter Biochemistry. Although humor is frequently regarded as peripheral to the work of science, the journal provides an opportunity to understand how it contributes to the social infrastructure of scientific communities as modern workplaces. Taking methodological cues from cultural history, ethnography, and humor studies, this essay conducts a close and contextual reading of Brighter Biochemistry. This reading demonstrates how humor served as a central means through which members of the Dunn confronted workplace issues, including creating cooperative work teams, responding to gender discrimination, addressing funding anxiety, and defining professional identity. These conclusions provide a new perspective on the well-documented history of the Dunn and also offer a model for how historians of science can approach humor when its traces are encountered in other settings.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1086/710666
