This article explores a lesser known aspect of Lester Frank Ward's life, his role as a natural scientist. This article is quite critical of Ward’s attempts at fame and success in the natural sciences and the point is made that although Ward had a strong interest in natural science, he struggled to leave a lasting mark on the field. There is certainly an immense amount of praise for Ward, primarily in the field of sociology, but I found this article interesting because of its efforts to expose another side to Ward. Also, it acknowledges the fact that often times, a strong passion does not amount to a successful career.
The author writes, “The trouble was, that Ward remained a philosopher, even in the field of natural science. For example, he considered the inheritance of acquired personality characteristics vital to his philosophic scheme [. . .]. Ward argued, for example, that if the immediate environment of the germ-plasm of an organism can change the inheritance, therefore the environment of the organism can change the inheritance.”
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This article is very interesting. In History of Science 493 we learned Natural Science was a hobby for many Americans, especially academics. It colonial America, many amateurs practiced science.
ReplyDeleteI think however, the author's point that Ward's natural science was too much based upon philosophy was not exactly what prevented him from success because a large amount of early science was rooted in philosophy. For example, psychology based on mental philosophies.
Cool post!