Conference Announcement and Call for Papers for the 2001 Joint Atlantic Seminar in the History of the Physical Sciences to be held September 28-30, 2001

The Joint Atlantic Seminar in the History of the Physical Sciences (JASHOPS) will take place on September 28-30, 2001 at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia. The conference will focus on the historical interactions between the physical sciences, business, and technology.

The physical sciences, technologies, and industries have profoundly shaped the history of the world since the late nineteenth century. New scientific disciplines and global industries have been established, e.g., petrochemicals, polymers, solid-state electronics, materials science, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. Moreover, the physical sciences, technologies, and industries developed early and had far-reaching connections with public sector-institutions, spanning the range from public health and environmental protection to national defense. These fields and industries have had dramatic effects on standards of living, global economic patterns and developments, as well as on worldviews.

Submitted papers should be concrete historical investigations on any topic in the history of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biophysics, or the geosciences. Participants will be expected to integrate into their analyses broader issues relating to business history and the history of technology. Examples include the history of science-based industry, technological innovation in the public and private sectors, knowledge production and practice, regulation and risk, and the military-industrial-academic complex. Papers that address historiographical issues are especially welcome.

All scholars are invited to submit proposals, although preference will be given to students and recent Ph.D.’s. Abstracts of 500-1000 words are due by May 11, 2001. If accepted for the program, completed papers will be due by August 10, 2001 to ensure availability for distribution prior to the conference.

Abstracts and papers should be submitted to the following address:

Thomas C. Lassman
Joint Atlantic Seminar in the History of the Physical Sciences
Chemical Heritage Foundation
315 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Electronic submissions should be sent to toml@chemheritage.org.

Co-sponsors:
Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics
Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology
Department of the History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania Chemical Heritage Foundation

Organizing Committee:
Arnold Thackray
Mary Ellen Bowden
David C. Brock
Thomas C. Lassman