Pulp science: education and communication in the paperback book revolution.

Paperback books on scientific topics were a hot commodity in the United States from the 1940s to 1960s providing a vehicle for science communication that transformed science education. Well-known scientists authored them, including Rachel Carson, Theodosius Dobzhansky, George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, Julian Huxley, and Margaret Mead. A short history of 'the paperback revolution' that began in the 1930s is provided before concentrating on one publishing company based in New York City, the New American Library of World Literature (NAL), which produced Signet and Mentor Books. The infrastructure that led to the production and consumption of paperback books is described and an underexplored and not-previously identified genre of educational books on scientific topics, what the author refers to as pulp science, is characterized.

Scientific discrimination and the activist scientist: L.C. Dunn and the professionalization of genetics and human genetics in the United States.

During the 1920s and 1930s geneticist L.C. Dunn of Columbia University cautioned Americans against endorsing eugenic policies and called attention to eugenicists' less than rigorous practices. Then, from the mid-1940s to early 1950s he attacked scientific racism and Nazi Rassenhygiene by co-authoring Heredity, Race and Society with Theodosius Dobzhansky and collaborating with members of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) on their international campaign against racism. Even though shaking the foundations of scientific discrimination was Dunn's primary concern during the interwar and post-World War II years, his campaigns had ancillary consequences for the discipline. He contributed to the professionalization of genetics during the 1920s and 1930s and sought respectability for human genetics in the 1940s and 1950s. My article aims to elucidate the activist scientist's role in undermining scientific discrimination by exploring aspects of Dunn's scientific work and political activism from the 1920s to 1950s. Definitions are provided for scientific discrimination and activist scientist.

The first 'molecular disease': a story of Linus Pauling, the intellectual patron.

In November 1949, chemist Linus Pauling and three colleagues published an article on sickle-cell anemia, a study that opened up new and exciting possibilities for research into such 'molecular diseases'. Even before this celebrated publication appeared in Science, Pauling foresaw its potential benefits and announced it as a medical breakthrough: '... our structural chemistry and understanding of molecules is getting to the point where it should be of assistance in converting medicine into a real science' [Guiles, R. (1949) Discovery of blood disease called key to cancer research. The Detroit Times 13 Sep 1949, Newspaper Clippings 1949n.18, Pauling Papers.]. Their discovery--that this debilitating disorder was caused by an abnormal form of hemoglobin--was borne out of a rich mix of expertise, from Pauling's remarkable intuition to the careful experimental chemistry of his student Harvey A. Itano. It also relied upon technological innovation: a custom-made electrophoresis machine housed at the California Institute of Technology was the perfect tool to reveal fundamental chemical differences between normal and abnormal forms of hemoglobin. Not only did this work establish a new way of looking at inherited diseases, it also stimulated the mass production of the electrophoresis machine as an essential investigative and diagnostic tool. A close inspection of this case study illustrates just how Pauling ran his laboratory and helps to explain how one man could achieve so much over his lifetime.