Prematurity in Scientific Discovery

Ernest B. Hook is Professor at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.

"In preparing this remarkable book, Ernest Hook persuaded an eminent group of scientists, historians, sociologists and philosophers to focus on the problem: why are some discoveries rejected at a particular time but later seen to be valid? The interaction of these experts did not produce agreement on 'prematurity' in science but something more valuable: a collection of fascinating papers, many of them based on new research and analysis, which sometimes forced the author to revise a previously-held opinion. The book should be enthusiastically welcomed by all readers who are interested in how science works." - Stephen G. Brush, co-author of Physics, The Human Adventure: From copernicus to Einstein and Beyond

• List of Figures and Tables Preface Acknowledgments List of Contributors Part 1. Introduction 1. A Background to Prematurity and Resistance to "Discovery" 2. Prematurity in Scientific Discovery Part 2. Observer and Participant Accounts 3. Prematurity, Nuclear Fission, and the Transuranium Actinide Elements 4. Resistance to Change and New Ideas in Physics: A Personal Perspective 5. The Timeliness of the Discoveries of the Three Modes of Gene Transfer in Bacteria 6. Scotoma: Forgetting and Neglect in Science Part 3. Historical Perspectives Section A. Relatively Unproblematic Exemplars 7. Prematurity and Delay in the Prevention of Scurvy 8. A Triptych to Serendip: Prematurity and Resistance to Discovery in the Earth Sciences 9. Theories of an Expanding Universe: Implications of Their Reception for the Concept of Scientific Prematurity 10. Interdisciplinary Dissonance and Nuclear Fission: Ida Noddack and the Premature Suggestion of Nuclear Splitting Section B. Disputable Cases 11. Michael Polanyi's Theory of Surface Adsorption: How Premature? 12. Prematurity and the Dynamics of Scientific Change 13. Barbara McClintock's Controlling Elements: Premature Discovery or Stillborn Theory? 14. The Work of Joseph Adams and Archibald Garrod: Possible Examples of Prematurity in Human Genetics Part 4. Natural Selection and Evolution from the Perspective of Prematurity 15. The Prematurity of Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection 16. Prematurity, Evolutionary Biology, and the Historical Sciences Part 5. Perspectives from the Vantage Point of the Social Sciences 17. Prematurity in Political "Science": Three Paradigms 18. The Impact and Fate of Gunther Stent's Prematurity Thesis 19. Premature Discovery Is Failure of Intersection among Social Worlds Part 6. Philosophical Perspectives 20. Fleck, Kuhn, and Stent: Loose Reflections on the Notion of Prematurity 21. The Concept of Prematurity and the Philosophy of Science Part 7. Closing Considerations 22. Prematurity and Promise: Why Was Stent's Notion of Prematurity Itself So Premature? 23. Reflections on Hull's Remarks 24. Comments 25. Extensions and Complexities: In Defense of Prematurity in Scientific Discovery Index Contributors: Kenneth J. Carpenter, Nathaniel Comfort, Elihu Gerson, Michael Ghiselin, William Glen, Norris S. Hetherington, Frederic L. Holmes, Ernest B. Hook, David Hull, Martin Jones, Ilana Lowy, Arno G. Motulsky, Gonzalo Munevar, Mary Jo Nye, Michael Ruse, Oliver Sacks, Glenn T. Seaborg, Gunther S. Stent, Lawrence Stern, Charles H. Townes, George Von der Muhll, Norton Zinder