Physics and the rise of scientific research in Canada / Yves Gingras ; translated by Peter Keating.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gingras, Yves, 1954-

Standardized Title:

Origines de la recherche scientifique au Canada

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Royal Society of Canada.

Research--Canada--History.

Research.

Science--Study and teaching (Higher)--Canada--History.

Science.

Physics--Canada--History.

Physics.

Federal aid to research--Canada.

Federal aid to research.

Physical Description:

xii, 203 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, c1991.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The teaching of engineering and a change in liberal arts curricula, both stimulated by industrial growth, encouraged the creation of specialized courses in the sciences. By the 1890s, Gingras argues, trained researchers had begun to appear in Canadian universities. The technological demands of the First World War and the founding, in 1916, of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) accelerated the growth of scientific research. The Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada could no longer publish everything submitted to it because of the disproportionately large number of research papers from the fields of science. In response, the NRC created the Canadian Journal of Research, a journal specifically dedicated to the publication of scientific research. By 1930, a stable, national system of scientific research was in place in Canada. Following the dramatic increase in the national importance of their disciplines, scientists faced the problem of social identity. Gingras demonstrates that in the case of physics this took the form of a conflict between those who promoted a professional orientation, necessary to compete successfully with engineers in the labour market, and those, mainly in the universities, who were concerned with problems of the discipline such as publication, internal management, and awards. Physics and the Rise of Scientific Research in Canada is the first book to provide a general analysis of the origins of scientific research in Canadian universities. Gingras proposes a sociological model of the formation of scientific disciplines, distinguishing the profession from the discipline, two notions often confused by historians and sociologists of science.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Establishing Research

From Teaching to Research

Finding Resources

Growth and Diversification of Research

Reforming Institutions

Adjusting the Royal Society of Canada

The Birth of the Canadian Journal of Research

Changing Definitions

In Search of a Collective Voice

Profession or Discipline ?

Representing the Discipline

Conclusion

Statistical Appendix

Notes

Index

Notes:

Translation of: Les origines de la recherche scientifique au Canada.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-85551-4

9786612855511

0-7735-6281-8

OCLC:

929121305