Article ID: CBB498164154

How Mechanisms Explain Interfield Cooperation: Biological–Chemical Study of Plant Growth Hormones in Utrecht and Pasadena, 1930–1938 (2017)

unapi

This article examines to what extent a particular case of cross-disciplinary research in the 1930s was structured by mechanistic reasoning. For this purpose, it identifies the interfield theories that allowed biologists and chemists to use each other’s techniques and findings, and that provided the basis for the experiments performed to identify plant growth hormones and to learn more about their role in the mechanism of plant growth. In 1930, chemists and biologists in Utrecht and Pasadena began to cooperatively study plant growth. I will argue that these researchers decided to join forces because they believed to rely on each other’s findings and methods to solve their research problems adequately. In the course of the cooperation, organic chemists arrived at isolating plant growth hormones by using a test method developed in plant physiology. This achievement, in turn, facilitated biologists’ investigation of the mechanism of plant growth. Researchers eventually believed to have the means to study the relation between a substance’s molecular structure and its physiological activity. The way they conceptualized the problem of identifying hormones and unraveling the mechanism of plant growth, as well as their actual research actions are compatible with the new mechanists’ account of mechanism research. The study illustrates that focusing on researchers’ mechanistic reasoning can contribute considerably to explaining the structure of cross-disciplinary research projects.

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Authors & Contributors
Ayres, Peter G.
Simpson, Emily
Bert Nederbragt
Brian Gunning
Bruce Wellington
Marion Manifold
Concepts
Botany
Plant physiology
Ecology
Chemistry
Biology
Biographies
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
21st century
20th century, late
18th century
Places
Pasadena (California)
France
China
Utrecht (Netherlands)
Wales
United States
Institutions
Bordeaux. Université
Australian National University
Universität Zürich
Royal Society of London
Mount Wilson Observatory
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
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