Article ID: CBB001421648

Mapping the Methodologies of Burkitt Lymphoma (2014)

unapi

Clarke, Brendan (Author)


Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Volume: 48
Pages: 210-217


Publication Date: 2014
Edition Details: Article in a special section, “100 Years of Cancer and Viruses”
Language: English

While recent accounts have emphasised the planned, large-scale and systematic character of cancer virus research in the mid-C20, I argue here that a distinctive kind of small-scale scientific research existed, and made a distinctive contribution to the development of the field as a whole. Using the case of the research carried out to understand the causes of Burkitt lymphoma in Africa during the 1960s, I highlight two distinctive practices---geographical mapping and the re-purposing of existing disease infrastructure---that played a central role in this episode. My intention here is threefold: first, I will argue that this research is unlike the research practices usually identified as typical `big science' research concerning cancer viruses, particularly in the United States. Second, I will argue that this kind of research is also clearly distinct from the kind of research that Derek Price (Price, 1963) characterised as `little science'. Thirdly, I will sketch a positive characterisation of this kind of research as `small science'. I conclude by suggesting that this characterisation may be applied to other kinds of historical biomedical research, and that so doing may offer the pluralist a useful alternative way of understanding medical research in the twentieth century.

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Article Scheffler, Robin Wolfe (2014) Following Cancer Viruses through the Laboratory, Clinic, and Society. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (pp. 185-188). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001421648/

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Authors & Contributors
Scheffler, Robin Wolfe
Mortara, Lorenzo
Sankaran, Neeraja
Morgan, Gregory J.
Gallazzi, Matteo
Eliana Piantanida
Concepts
Cancer; tumors
Oncology
Medicine
Virology
Disease and diseases
Biomedicine
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
20th century, late
19th century
20th century, early
Places
United States
Africa
Rwanda
Angola
England
Portugal
Institutions
National Cancer Institute (U.S.)
Royal Society of London
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