2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
On the Rockefeller Foundation's purpose in funding the cyclotron development in1930s
| Project/Area Number |
17500684
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Sociology/History of science and technology
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| Research Institution | Takushoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
HINOKAWA Shizue Takushoku University, Department of Commerce, Professor (90134832)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2007
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| Keywords | Rockefeller Foundation / Cyclotron / Radioactive tracer / Experimental biology / Nuclear physics / Warren Weaver / Atomic bomb in America / History of science and technology in 1930s |
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| Research Abstract |
In the 1930s, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded grants for cyclotron development not only to the University of California at Berkeley, but also to researchers in France, Denmark, and other parts of Europe. This study aims to clarify the Foundation's objectives in providing such support. Research done over the past 3 years has revealed the following :
1.The Rockefeller Foundation gave financial support for cyclotron development in accordance with its own scientific research policy. Starting in 1933, Warren Weaver, Director of the Foundation's Division of Natural Sciences, began promoting the advancement of experimental biology. Experimental biology was defined as "the application of experimental procedures to the study of the organization and reactions of living matter." Weaver was concerned about "how to bring the discipline of chemistry and physics more effectively into biology." The use of radio active indicators (the radioactive tracer method) was considered to be one promising rese
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arch method, and in this connection the cyclotron was spotlighted as a means to produce a wide variety of artificial radioactive isotopes. It was against this backdrop that the Rockefeller Foundation provided support for cyclotron development in the 1930s.
2.The Rockefeller Foundation provided support only on the basis of its own policies. As can be seen in the case of Harvard University, where the Foundation refused support for the development of a cyclotron for nuclear research. In the spring of 1940, however, it awarded a grant of over $1, 000, 000 to Berkeley's project to build a 184-inch cyclotron for the production of mesotrons, which were at the forefront of research on the composition of matter. The Rockefeller Foundation was deeply involved in this big project from the planning stage and provided a grant to get it started. Berkeley's enormous 184-inch electromagnet was incorporated into the United States' atomic bomb development program and used to develop a method of producing the material for the uranium bomb. Less
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