Legends in Their Own Time: A Century of American Physical Scientists

America is a society that encompasses and reflects the accomplish- ments of science. As civilized people, we can argue that to understand America is to und erstand the scientific genius of the men and women who built the foundations of modern science and technology. However, science is not merely a co11ection of the results of scientific research or inte11ectual wizardry. It is also a social phenomenon with real human beings with a11 their foibles. As George Sarton said, "The best way to explain American achievements is to focus the reader's attention upon a few of the leading scientists." That I have tried to do. While there are other valid approaches to the history of science, certainly the biographi- cal approach brings to ligh t the fact that science is not a mere congerie of facts and theories. It is a very human activity with biases, personal rivalries, censorship, and even thievery, as the case of Rosalind Franklin shows.
A note is in order on the point in time I've chosen for the beginning of this book. I begin roughly in the late 1830s, in the Bond era in astronomy. It was in this period that American science education was beginning to come into its own-a sound educa- tional system in science being a sine qua non for continual, syste- matic progress in scientific research. Before this period, science professors appeared on faculties only occasiona11y; often teaching several other subjects as well. By the 1830s, however, the professor of physics or chemistry appeared in college catalogues as often as did professors in the humanities. Also, specific courses and spe- cialists were appearing in the 1830s, inc1uding even such "arcane" fields as geology. Wesleyan University, for example, could boast of three scientists on a faculty of only seven. By the 1850s, Amherst College had more faculty in science than in any other field.