Myth-Historical Tensions

Chapter 1 examines the origins of “myth-history” as a narrative category and the purposes for which it is employed. The term myth-history has been used by some physicists to self-consciously distinguish the informal stories they tell from scholarly histories. These scientist-storytellers are not admitting wrongdoing. They are aware of the deficiencies in rigor underlying their myth-histories, yet they reserve the right to filter out historical details for science’s greater good. This chapter sets the context for the rest of the book by establishing scientists’ diverse intents and justifications for writing myth-histories. The discussion is careful not to depict the relationship between myth and history as a polarized conflict. Instead, a more reflective discourse is sought, a common ground to appreciate the power of myth-histories as a distinct mode of storytelling. This framing challenges scientist-storytellers and historians to think critically about the effects of the stories they tell.

Myth-Historical CRISPR Edits

History is not always written by the victors. Competing histories often become ssbattlegrounds for those who want to declare themselves victors. Emerging from the frontiers of molecular biology, today’s caustic patent dispute over gene-editing technology is being waged partly through published myth-histories. The revolutionary gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 has quickly become a vehicle for patent and priority controversies to determine who cashes in on billions of dollars in licensing fees, a Nobel Prize, and scientific immortality. This chapter examines competing myth-histories in the context of larger socioeconomic forces, as well as the lack of an international regime of ethical guidelines for this work. Careful study is necessary to grasp the background and impact of these narratives.

Introduction-Reconstructing Scientific Pasts

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.1 —MURIEL RUKEYSER Graduate work in both physics and history taught me to use highly specialized research methods to rigorously search out truth and eradicate myths. In spring 2012, I brought this mindset with me as I sat down for lunch with physicist Pierre Hohenberg at the Apple Restaurant near Manhattan’s Washington Square Park. Pierre was a brilliant physicist and a family friend. Toward the end of his life, he was particularly invested in work on the foundations of quantum theory....

Echoes of Gravitational Waves

The myth-histories scientists tell tend to be collages of heroes pasted together to evoke an irrefutable scientific foundation of progress. Students consuming these narratives are not introduced to a realistic portrayal of scientific practice; they are fed an idealized form of science based on tropes that are effectively impossible to follow. How does this affect our students? We assume it gives them positive, ideal role models, but is this so? Studies show that students’ motivation is not homogeneous. Some may feel disenfranchised and unmotivated by myth-historical reconstructions of people from circumstances wildly different from their own. Chapter 4 examines one of the clearest examples of this idealization, myth-historical narratives constructed in communicating the discovery of gravitational waves in 2015–16. These narratives cast Albert Einstein as a clear and unambiguous scientific hero. They also engage in an ex post facto transformation of physicist Joseph Weber from scientific pariah to hero.

Myth-Historical Quantum Erasure

An unhappy complaint by celebrated Irish physicist John Stuart Bell, who challenged an unchecked quantum orthodoxy, opens Chapter 2. At first his quote seems little more than a disgruntled student blowing off steam. Closer examination reveals much higher stakes. This chapter probes Bell’s frustrations toward his physics training at Queen’s University Belfast in the late 1940s. He complained bitterly about an entrenched quantum orthodoxy supported by canonical narratives that took hold in the early 1930s and continued to dominate the field for decades. The orthodox quantum interpretation eventually became synonymous with the city of Copenhagen and was used widely in the international physics community to filter out unwanted alternate interpretations, shut down interpretational debate, and promote a pragmatically productive culture of scientific consensus.

Conclusion-

Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize.1 —CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE In Chapter 1 we examined the encounter that Errol Morris dubbed Thomas Kuhn’s “ashtray argument.” Morris’s memoir reveals much more than an alleged assault. His book aims to discredit Kuhn’s ideas and to question their legacy in both popular and academic cultures. He considers Kuhn’s ...

Demarcating Seismic Uncertainties

In the early morning hours of April 6, 2009, a devastating earthquake struck the city of L’Aquila, Italy, killing hundreds of people. Many of L’Aquila’s residents were not prepared for the earthquake and felt betrayed by scientific experts who were tasked with public safety. Three years later, in a shocking outcome, a group of seven scientists and public officials were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison. Although the L’Aquila Seven’s convictions were eventually reversed, this controversy illustrates the unintended consequences of scientists and public officials engaging in myth-historical boundary work but ignoring their duty to accurately communicate scientific ideas. The chapter grapples with the tension inherent in the juxtaposition of a scientific ideal and concrete scientific practice as it relates to notions of consensus and the communication of scientific uncertainty.