Science historian Lorraine Daston has researched the history of science for many years. She draws highly topical conclusions from this – for Russia, for example. She is now receiving the Gerda Henkel Prize for her research.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – The science historian Lorraine Daston believes that breaking off relations with Russian scientists because of the war of aggression against Ukraine is wrong. “The boycott of science has achieved very little in the past,” Daston told the German Press Agency. “It cannot be the aim of such a boycott to damage science itself.” Daston (71), who lives in Berlin, will be awarded the renowned Gerda Henkel Prize 2020 in Düsseldorf on Monday.
“I think there’s real value in cultivating contacts with Russian scientists right now — maybe not with a lot of fanfare, but steadily and firmly,” Daston said. “Russian scientists also belong to the unity of science, not only for idealistic but also for historical reasons.” Scientific institutions and universities in Germany had put scientific exchange with Russia on hold in protest against the Ukraine war.
As a historical example, Daston cited the boycott against German scientists after the First World War and the defeat of the German Empire. The boycott was lifted in 1926 because the physicist Albert Einstein opposed it. Einstein was not affected by the boycott. But he refused to go to conferences without German participation. “It had an effect,” Daston said. The German scientific community was also so “strong and lively” that “there was no point in excluding it”.
Daston concluded: “If you want to get science punished, you have to have really good reasons. But it’s not clear that you have good reasons to punish Russian scientists.” Several hundred Russian scientists publicly opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine – “with all the associated risks.”
Science can also be important for diplomacy, Daston said. During the Cold War, for example, Western and Russian scientists collaborated on an important collection of data on the Earth system. This data is still important today, especially when researching climate change. “There were regular personal and professional contacts among certain elites,” Daston said. “That’s worth its weight in gold in tense relationships.” Daston sees starting points for cooperation with Russia in Arctic research, for example.
The Gerda Henkel Prize, worth EUR 100,000, is awarded every two years for research in the field of historical humanities. Because of the corona pandemic, the presentation of the prize to Daston had been postponed.
The professor with US American and German citizenship was Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin for many years until 2019. Previously, she taught at the US universities of Harvard and Princeton, as well as in Göttingen.
According to the jury, Daston succeeds in making her research into categories such as truth, proof or fact fruitful for contemporary debates. The range of Daston’s publications is wide: from the early modern period to the 21st century, from the cabinets of curiosities of the baroque to scientific quantification. Her latest book is entitled “Rules”. In it, Daston writes about the history of rules in the Western tradition.
