Professor Kingsland is examining the careers of three important but relatively neglected American botanists of the early twentieth century: Daniel T. MacDougal, a physiological ecologist; George H. Shull, a geneticist; and Edward M. East, a geneticist. All three were pioneers in the development of experimental approaches to evolutionary biology and in the formation of the disciplines of ecology and genetics. Though located at different institutions, their research overlapped in several ways. With this grant, Professor Kingsland is exploring the relationship between "pure" and "applied" science by studying the economic and institutional context of their work, especially the applications of their research to environmental management and agriculture. She is also considering the role of the private patron (the Carnegie Institution) in influencing the direction of research at the turn of the century. She is using these case studies to bring into clearer focus the agricultural and entrepreneurial context of American experimental biology in the early twentieth century. In so doing, they can also help us to understand the form and character of modern American science.
