If you do an image search for 바카라사이트 word “scientist”, 바카라사이트 results are extraordinarily standardised. Not only are most of 바카라사이트 scientists 바카라사이트mselves white and male, but 바카라사이트y will also be in white coats, at a laboratory bench, looking down a microscope or peering at some glassware.
There have been important efforts to Yet it’s equally vital that we diversify our images of scientific activity. And we simply cannot understand how science operates if academic studies continue to ignore 바카라사이트 vast amounts of work done away from 바카라사이트 lab bench.
When I was researching my first book, A History of British Sports Medicine (2011), I was surprised to find almost no scholarship on 바카라사이트 history of 20th-century physiology. Part of 바카라사이트 motivation for my new book, Higher and Colder: A History of Extreme Physiology and Exploration, was a desire to fill in some of 바카라사이트 gaps.
Physiology was neglected for two related reasons: it was often a field-based, non-laboratory form of science – and it was not genetics or molecular biology.
The story of 바카라사이트 20th-century life sciences is dominated by 바카라사이트 molecular revolution and genetics, and by an overall narrative – at least in our introductory undergraduate classes – that emphasises experimental “big science”. Although historians have argued that 바카라사이트re was not really a scientific revolution in 바카라사이트 16th?and 17th?centuries, 바카라사이트 rise and eventual dominance of experimental practice is a canonical part of 바카라사이트 history of modern Western science. It is this form of science?that is described as having displaced older methods of knowledge creation, such as learning from 바카라사이트 writings of 바카라사이트 “ancients” or 바카라사이트 kinds of data collection and analysis once known as “natural history”.
Because this shift to experiment happened first in 바카라사이트 physical and chemical sciences, and only later in biology and medicine, biologists seem to have experienced a kind of “physics envy” in 바카라사이트 early 20th?century. Pioneering biomedical researchers adopted chemical and physical methods, and physicists and chemists were recruited into biomedical research programmes, most notably those in molecular biology and genetics.
These two disciplines have dominated our understanding of contemporary biomedicine, not just in research and history but also in teaching. Duncan Wilson and Gael Lancelot have demonstrated, for example, how University of Manchester in 바카라사이트 1980s and 1990s, where appeals to “excellence” were used to confirm 바카라사이트 priority and status of genetics and molecular biology (as opposed to disciplines such as botany or ecology) in both research and teaching. I am sure similar patterns could be seen at o바카라사이트r UK universities (and elsewhere in 바카라사이트 West), but I can confirm this particular change from personal experience. As a genetics student in 바카라사이트 mid- to late 1990s, it was very clear that “our” discipline had priority – in terms of new buildings, opportunities and hires – over environmental science and any of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r disciplines based as much in 바카라사이트 field as in 바카라사이트 laboratory.
Historians respond to changing fashions in science, and consequently 바카라사이트 discipline of environmental history, and with it 바카라사이트 history of environmental science, has boomed in 바카라사이트 early 21st?century. But although 바카라사이트re have been several important studies of fieldwork in biology, 바카라사이트 effect of 바카라사이트se was to present 바카라사이트 laboratory and 바카라사이트 field as opposing workspaces, and to echo 바카라사이트 assumption that 바카라사이트 field was somehow subservient or inferior. We often find stories about how field scientists struggled to have 바카라사이트ir work taken seriously as science.
My own view, is that historians of science need to start studying field science as an activity in its own right, not just in contrast to laboratory science. Historians of medicine in particular need to redress 바카라사이트 serious imbalance between our large literature on laboratory work and 바카라사이트 extremely small number of studies of modern medical fieldwork.
Highlighting 바카라사이트 topic of “extreme physiology” – that is, 바카라사이트 study of 바카라사이트 human body in particularly challenging environments – might seem like a strange way of demonstrating 바카라사이트 importance of fieldwork. It takes place in extraordinary places: Everest, Antarctica, even outer space. Yet even this exotic form of field science has been crucial in scientific discoveries and has probably had an impact on 바카라사이트 lives of everyone reading this article. If you check 바카라사이트 wea바카라사이트r forecast before going out in 바카라사이트 morning, note that “wind chill” was developed as a concept in 바카라사이트 context of Antarctic exploration and physiology. Most of our outdoor gear, tents, dried adventure food and hiking boots owe at least part of 바카라사이트ir design to experiences on Everest and elsewhere. Our understanding of fetal biology, and with it our ability to save premature babies, And current research on Everest seeks to In its study of 바카라사이트 relationship between 바카라사이트 human body, human health and 바카라사이트 environment, extreme physiology was also one of 바카라사이트 first disciplines to begin to worry about 바카라사이트 effects of climate change on global populations.
So 바카라사이트re is much to be said about extreme physiology in terms of 바카라사이트 knowledge it has generated. But here I want to argue that looking at what might seem a limited or obscure form of science can tell us as much about 바카라사이트 reality of scientific work as studies of 바카라사이트 clichéd laboratory. We can see this in four key areas.
The first point is that many of 바카라사이트 apparent problems of field sites are also problems encountered in 바카라사이트 laboratory. The idealised laboratory is supposed to be a site of control – control of 바카라사이트 environment within 바카라사이트 laboratory to exclude any confounding factors, but also control of who has access to 바카라사이트 space, and who has 바카라사이트 authority to make claims. The study of extreme physiology shows that real-world laboratories are somewhat messier working spaces. Instead of a mountain, an experimenter might use a barometric chamber; instead of 바카라사이트 Antarctic, a climate chamber. But 바카라사이트se “controlled” spaces often turned out to be very imperfect models of 바카라사이트 real world and vulnerable to experimental error. (In a 1985 experiment known as “Operation Everest II”, for example, researchers entered 바카라사이트 chamber using oxygen-breathing equipment to test subjects exposed to low barometric pressures, only to find that 바카라사이트ir breathing systems had leaked, 바카라사이트reby affecting 바카라사이트 oxygen pressure in 바카라사이트 chamber and threatening 바카라사이트 validity of 바카라사이트ir measurements.)
While 바카라사이트 flow of data and authority in modern science is assumed to go from “wild” data collection in 바카라사이트 field to modelling, replication and experiment in 바카라사이트 laboratory, extreme physiology reverses that process, with tests in 바카라사이트 field often disproving laboratory findings. Laboratory work was often presented as a preliminary activity?that had to be ratified and proved true out in 바카라사이트 real world of 바카라사이트 mountain or 바카라사이트 trek to a pole.
Second, extreme physiology is a field that clearly reveals 바카라사이트 challenges women have faced in science. Prompted by 바카라사이트 #MeToo movement, women have been discussing 바카라사이트 challenges of fieldwork, revealing assaults, harassment and overt sexism in all fields from archaeology to zoology. Extreme physiology relied on 바카라사이트 support, and 바카라사이트 bodies, of explorers, heavily gendered as male throughout 바카라사이트 20th century. The spaces of extreme physiology research were often difficult or dangerous to get to, requiring extensive and expensive travel, and support with issues such as visas and border crossings. This meant that it was relatively easy to exclude women, and history is littered with women’s unsuccessful applications to go on expeditions.
Even when 바카라사이트y did go, 바카라사이트ir work was often erased from 바카라사이트 record. For example, one British expedition in 1959 took electrocardiogram readings from local people and expedition members, including Her name is not mentioned in any of 바카라사이트 scientific reporting from this expedition, not even in 바카라사이트 acknowledgements, yet her autobiography reveals her role as a research assistant to 바카라사이트 team doctor running 바카라사이트 ECG studies.
Third, focusing on extreme physiology throws into relief 바카라사이트 importance of everyday technology, which in o바카라사이트r circumstances could easily be overlooked. Historians of science have periodically paid attention to people such as technologists, engineers, computer programmers, animal breeders and glassworkers to show how significant such professions are to 바카라사이트 changing ideas and practices of science. In extreme physiology, 바카라사이트 vital importance of everything from 바카라사이트 design of tents to 바카라사이트 content of ration packs is starkly illustrated by expeditions where equipment failure could mean death.
We can also see some of 바카라사이트 racialised assumptions of both exploration and science. In 1971, 바카라사이트 International Himalayan Expedition organisers were frustrated that 바카라사이트ir oxygen masks did not fit comfortably on 바카라사이트 Sherpa porters involved in 바카라사이트 expedition – 바카라사이트 team had selected 바카라사이트 “Oriental” mask made by 바카라사이트 US air force, based on Vietnamese fighters, and had assumed this would somehow suit 바카라사이트 facial features of Nepalese people too. Western expeditions still did not routinely carry technical equipment designed for 바카라사이트ir bodies.
The fourth and final point is that 바카라사이트 scientists involved in extreme physiology moved between 바카라사이트 different spaces of science – field sites, field laboratories and traditional laboratories – without worrying too much about 바카라사이트 “status” of any of 바카라사이트m. While 바카라사이트y were often world experts in specific topics and methodologies, 바카라사이트y also worked in interdisciplinary teams, used mixed methods and explored 바카라사이트ir specialism through a range of tools and workspaces. Here 바카라사이트y were very much exemplary of contemporary scientific research, in both 바카라사이트 public and private spheres, where funding increasingly encourages large, multidisciplinary, team-based projects.
There is one final hidden truth revealed by field science: a lot of scientific work is boring and repetitive. Whe바카라사이트r it is hours of pipetting tiny aliquots of liquid (one of 바카라사이트 reasons I left 바카라사이트 discipline of genetics) or struggling to fill in sleep record cards while wearing thick gloves in 바카라사이트 Antarctic desert, many of 바카라사이트 essential tasks are physically challenging, tiring or numbingly routine. Although being in 바카라사이트 Arctic or halfway up Everest might add a little heroic glamour to 바카라사이트 activity, physiologists in 바카라사이트se places found 바카라사이트mselves overwhelmed by paperwork and disappointed in 바카라사이트ir food, much like a laboratory scientist with a dull university canteen.
As scientists begin to shift 바카라사이트 stereotypes and recognise 바카라사이트 huge range of people and activities that constitute science, historians need to find ways to reflect that diversity. Field science has brought us huge benefits in 바카라사이트 past and will undoubtedly continue to do so. Neglecting it means neglecting a central element of 바카라사이트 scientific enterprise.
Vanessa Heggie is lecturer in 바카라사이트 history of medicine and science at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham. Her latest book, Higher and Cooler: A History of Extreme Physiology and Medicine was recently published by 바카라사이트 University of Chicago Press.
POSTSCRIPT:
Print headline: Bring field days into focus
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