Dr. Dinsmore, a professor of anatomy at Rush Medical College, is undertaking a training/study and research program under the guidance of Dr. Robert J. Richards in the Program of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Chicago. He is also working with Dr. Frederick Churchill of Indiana University. During the course of this professional development award, Dr. Dinsmore is gaining familiarity with and experience in the methods and materials of the history of science and acquiring the skills in doing research in this area. The research component of this award is directed towards examining the transformation of zoology from an observational to a controlled experimental science. Dr. Dinsmore hypothesizes that this transformation occurred in the 18th century and centered on the issue of animal regeneration studies. Dr. Dinsmore has found that from the start of these regeneration studies, the simplicity of experimental execution allowed virtually anyone to repeat the observations; the network of correspondence assured that the discovery of animal regeneration would be broadcast widely and that the experiments would be replicated with varying results and interpretations; and the novelty of the results would attract wide attention from a broad range of the educated public. Dr. Dinsmore is investigating how these circumstances helped to transform what had typically been an examination of "curiosities of nature" into a systematic science. He is carrying this research out at the University of Chicago, at Indiana University and at the Bibliotheque Publique et Universitaire in Geneva Switzerland.
