Article ID: CBB271111385

Brightening Biochemistry: Humor, Identity, and Scientific Work at the Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry, 1923–1931 (2020)

unapi

In the 1920s, scientists at the University of Cambridge’s Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry made major contributions to the emerging discipline of biochemistry while also devoting considerable time and energy to the production of a humor journal entitled Brighter Biochemistry. Although humor is frequently regarded as peripheral to the work of science, the journal provides an opportunity to understand how it contributes to the social infrastructure of scientific communities as modern workplaces. Taking methodological cues from cultural history, ethnography, and humor studies, this essay conducts a close and contextual reading of Brighter Biochemistry. This reading demonstrates how humor served as a central means through which members of the Dunn confronted workplace issues, including creating cooperative work teams, responding to gender discrimination, addressing funding anxiety, and defining professional identity. These conclusions provide a new perspective on the well-documented history of the Dunn and also offer a model for how historians of science can approach humor when its traces are encountered in other settings.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB271111385/

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Authors & Contributors
Weatherall, Mark W.
Richmond, Marsha L.
Earle, Jonathon L.
Antonio Fundarò
Willis, Martin
Whitehead, Neil L.
Concepts
Science and culture
Ethnography
Science and politics
Anthropology
Methodology of science; scientific method
Cross-cultural interaction; cultural influence
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
21st century
20th century
Renaissance
Early modern
Places
Great Britain
Uganda
North America
Hungary
British Isles
Austro-hungary
Institutions
Cambridge University
Oxford University
University of Manchester
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