Genetic Code, Text, and Scripture: Metaphors and Narration in German Molecular Biology

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Brandt
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Genetic Code ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
New Research

ArgumentThis paper examines the role of metaphors in science on the basis of a historical case study. The study explores how metaphors of “genetic information,” “genetic code,” and scripture representations of heredity (i.e. the metaphorical comparison of DNA with text and alphabet) entered molecular biology and reshaped experimentation during the 1950s and 1960s. Following the approach of the philosopher Hans Blumenberg, I will argue that metaphors are not merely a means of popularization or a specific kind of modeling (by building analogies) but rather are representations that can unfold an operational force of their own.While the influence of cybernetics and information theory on molecular biology is well documented in historical analysis throughout recent years, this paper offers new insights into the metaphysical and religious resonances of textual metaphors in the life sciences. The main focus will be on developments in Germany, in particular on the work of the German biochemist Gerhard Schramm. In this historical case study the interaction between metaphors and experimental practices will be discussed. The paper analyzes different phases in the use of metaphors during the 1950s and 1960s: it will explore how the metaphors of a “genetic alphabet” or of “genetic code” (which were used with an illustrative purpose in the 1950s) developed into a new research program and eventually attained ontological status in the early 1960s. At that time Schramm's use of textual metaphors was reminiscent of nineteenth-century German natural philosophy. In this case, the metaphorical shift shows how the metaphor of a “genetic text” or a “genetic code,” which were central for the emerging molecular biology, drew on older cultural traditions with all of their metaphysical and religious preoccupations.

From Souqs to Emporiums: The Urban Transformation of Abu Dhabi

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 58-69
Author(s):  
Yasser Elsheshtawy
Keyword(s):  
Urban Growth ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Trade Center

This paper in its first part aims at contextualizing Abu Dhabi's urban development and understanding the factors that have governed its urban growth through a historical case study approach. Relying on archival records and primary sources five stages of urban growth are identified. Data mining of media archives allows for a first hand account of developments taking place thus grounding the depictions. The second part contextualizes this review through a case study of the Central Market project — also known as Abu Dhabi's World Trade Center. The paper concludes by elaborating on the significance of such a historical analysis as it shifts the discourse away from a focus on the ‘artificiality’ of cities in the Gulf to one that is based on a recognition about the historicity of its urban centers, however recent it may be. Additionally the pertinence of such an analysis for cities worldwide is discussed as well.

Contested internal legitimacy: the emergence of organized academic entrepreneurship

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Adi Sapir
Keyword(s):  
Academic Entrepreneurship ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Institutional Complexity ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Commercialization ◽  
New Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the emergence of organized academic entrepreneurship in the context of institutional complexity, in which multiple institutional logics co-exist. The paper is focused on the dynamics of internal legitimation of new research commercialization initiatives and the interrelations between internal and external legitimacy and their underlying institutional logics. Design/methodology/approach Based on a historical case study of the founding of Yeda Research and Development Company at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1959, the paper examines the rhetorical struggles between the proponents and opponents of the company. The analysis is based on archival data and focuses on the analysis of a meeting of the Institute’s Scientific Committee in which the new company was introduced and debated. Findings The findings show the strengths and limitations of rhetorical legitimation work in supporting the establishment of new organizational initiatives. Rhetorical strategies that bridge the different institutional logics in the field can enable the emergence of new enterprises. Yet, when organizational practices do not concur with the institutional logic on which internal legitimacy is based, new organizational initiatives become illegitimate and organizational actors withdraw their support. Originality/value This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the under-researched process of constructing internal legitimacy for an organizational change, both in general and in the specific context of academic entrepreneurship. Further, this study contributes new insights to research on the historical process of the emergence of organized research commercialization in universities in the context of institutional complexity.

scholarly journals Transitioning business school accounting from binary divide to unified national system

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Safari ◽  
Lee David Parker
Keyword(s):  
Business School ◽  
Global Education ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Analytical Methodology ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to provide a historical case study of strategic changes in accounting at an Australian university’s business school department during 1972-1992 when it was repositioning itself in the early stages of major changes in the Australian and international tertiary accounting education environment. The study is conducted within the context of the university history within which the department operated as well as major government policy and global education shifts shaping university structures and focus. Design/methodology/approach This study offers a historical analysis of early stage changes in university focus at the business school’s accounting department, developed through departmental and university reports and oral history interviews. A narrative analytical methodology is adopted to portray a history of an academic accounting department in transition. Findings This case study illuminates the impacts of and responses to the beginning of marketisation and globalisation of higher education, and the commercialisation of universities and explains the strategic implementation processes in one university’s business school departmental during a period of significant formative change in the Australian accounting education landscape. Originality/value This study deepens our understanding of environmental, structural, educational and research changes at the operational departmental level of academic institutions, paying particular attention to the organisational culture and human capital dimensions.

“In spite of everything?” Female entrepreneurship from a historical perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Picciaia
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Female Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personal Perceptions ◽  
Chocolate Factory

Purpose This paper provides a historical case study, through the analysis of Luisa Spagnoli’s entrepreneurial life. Luisa Spagnoli was one of the most famous Italian businesswomen of the twentieth century, founder of “Perugina” chocolate factory and creator of “Luisa Spagnoli” fashion firm. The study aims particularly to examine the role of Luisa in the development of her businesses within the wider context of Italy of the 1900s, and to verify if and how gender has influenced the meaning and the shape of her entrepreneurial initiatives over time. Design/methodology/approach This study offers a historical analysis of entrepreneurial life of Luisa Spagnoli, developed through an archival study in a synchronic view. An interpretive historical method is adopted to deepen and better understand the links among personal, cultural, social and institutional domains. Findings This study contributes to the scholarship on businesswomen’s role in history and underlines the role of personal perceptions of female entrepreneurs to overcome external barriers. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this study concern the nature of the analysis itself, which is a single-case study. Originality/value This analysis highlights the centrality of personal self-perceptions to face up to the difficulties of an unfavourable context, contributing to create the pre-conditions necessary to become an entrepreneur.

The gay archival impulse: the founding of the Gerber/Hart library and archives in Chicago

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 689-702
Author(s):  
Aiden M. Bettine ◽  
Lindsay Kistler Mattock
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Community Control ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Archives

Purpose This paper aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the concept of community archives, offering a critique of the community archives discourse through a historical case study focused on the origins of the Gerber/Hart LGBTQ library and archives in Chicago. Design/methodology/approach This study explores the archival collections of the founders of the Gerber/Hart library and archives and the librarians that have worked there as a means for understanding the origins of the archival impulse, the rationale for building the collections and the practices that shaped the collections during the first decade of the organization’s history. Findings The historical analysis of the Gerber/Hart library and archives situates community archives and LGBTQ collections within the broader historical context that lead to the founding of the organization and reveals deep connections to the information professions not previously considered by those studying community archives. Originality/value The paper offers a reconceptualization of community archives as archival projects initiated, controlled and maintained by the members of a self-defined community. The authors emphasize the role of the archival impulse or the historical origins of the collection and the necessity for full-community control, setting clear boundaries between community archives and other participatory archival models that engage the community.

Leading through ritual: Ceremony and emperorship in early modern China

Leadership ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gazi Islam ◽  
Macabe Keliher
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Ritual Performance ◽  
The Qing Dynasty ◽  
Structural Aspects ◽  
Institutional Order

Ritual performance is well understood in organizational maintenance. Its role in leadership and processes of change, however, remains understudied. We argue that ritual addresses key challenges in institutionalizing leadership, particularly in fixing the relation between a charismatic leader and formal governance structures. Through a historical case study of the institutionalization of the emperor in Qing China (1636–1912), we argue that the shaping of collective understandings of the new emperor involved structural aspects of ritual that worked through analogical reasoning to internalize the figure of the leader through focusing attention, fixing memory, and emotionally investing members in the leader. We argue that data from the Qing dynasty Board of Rites show that ritual was explicitly designed to model the new institutional order, which Qing state-makers used to establish collective adherence to the emperorship. We further discuss the implications of this case for understanding the symbolic and performative nature of leadership as an institutional process.

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