Science As Autobiography : The Troubled Life of Niels Jerne

by Thomas Söderqvist; Translated by David Mel Paul

• ISBN13: 9780300094411
• ISBN10: 0300094418
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2003-03-11
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

This biography probes the unusual mind, the dramatic life, and the outstanding scientific work of Danish-born immunologist Niels Jerne (1911-1994). Jerne's Nobel Prize-winning achievements in the field of immunology place him in the pantheon of great twentieth-century biomedical theorists, yet his life is perhaps even more interesting than his science. Science as Autobiography tells Jerne's story, weaving together a narrative of his life experiences, emotional life, and extraordinarily creative scientific work. A legendary figure who preferred an afternoon of conversation in a Paris wine bar to work in the laboratory, Jerne was renowned for his unparalleled powers of concentration and analytical keenness as well as his dissonant personal life. The book explores Jerne the man and scientist, making the fascinating argument that his life experience and view of himself became a metaphorical resource for the construction of his the ories. The book also probes the moral issues that surrounded Jerne's choice to sacrifice his family in favor of scientific goals and the

Author Biography

Thomas Soderqvist is professor of history of medicine and chair of the Department of History of Medicine at the University of Copenhagen.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
A Note on the Translation	xiii
Introduction: A Scientist in His Life's Project	xv
PART I: The Making of a Romantic Character (1911--1947)	1	(108)
``I Have Never in My Life Felt I Belonged in the Place Where I Lived''	3	(13)
``Stylistically, I'm Best at Irony''	16	(13)
``I Wanted to Study Something That Couldn't Be Used''	29	(10)
``I Have the Feeling That Everything Around Me Is Enveloped in a Mist''	39	(13)
``When I Look at Other Scientists . . . None of Them Have Wasted as Many Years as I Have''	52	(11)
``Now I Think Nobody Can Keep Me from Becoming a Doctor''	63	(12)
``To Be Able to Let Nature Reflect in the Depths of My Own Soul''	75	(13)
``I Am Branded with Infidelity, and See That Open-Eyed''	88	(8)
``Letters Are a Spiritual Spiderweb in Which You Snare the Dreaming Soul of Woman''	96	(13)
Part II: The Making of the Selection Theory (1947--1954)	109	(64)
``The Happiness of Feeling Superior to a Lot of People''	111	(13)
``I Think the Work Has Principal Application to Immunology''	124	(9)
``Antibody This, Antibody That, They Weren't Really Much Interested''	133	(11)
``These People Don't Know What They're Doing''	144	(12)
``I Suppose I Should Do Something, Maybe an Experiment or Something''	156	(17)
Parabasis: The Selection Theory as a Personal Confession	173	(18)
Part III: A Man, His Theory, and His Network (1954--1994)	191	(101)
``My Hopes and Failures Are Within Myself''	193	(16)
``This Theory Hadn't Made Much of a Stir, So Now, What Was I to Do?''	209	(8)
``I'd Better Make Sure I Learn a Little about Immunology''	217	(16)
``Finally, My Precious, I Have to Be Brilliant and Make Antibodies''	233	(16)
``Like a Log Coming Slowly to the Surface of a Lake''	249	(18)
``I Still Think That My Original Natural Selection Theory Was Better''	267	(11)
``Immunology Is for Me Becoming a Mostly Philosophical Subject''	278	(14)
Epilogue: ``What Struggle to Escape''	292	(5)
Abbreviations Used in Notes	297	(2)
Notes	299	(30)
Unpublished Sources	329	(2)
Bibliography	331	(20)
Index	351