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University of Cambridge
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
** Fifth Cambridge Wellcome Lecture in the History of Medicine **
On Thursday 3 December 2009 at 4.30pm
Angus McLaren (University of Victoria)
will speak on
Divorcing sex and reproduction: the discussion of artificial
insemination in Britain, 1918–1948
The lecture, which doubles as the last Departmental seminar of
Michaelmas Term, will start at 4.30pm in Seminar Room 2, Department of
History and Philosophy of Science, Free School Lane, Cambridge.
There will be tea from 4pm in Seminar Room 1, and a drinks
reception there after the lecture at 6pm.
At a workshop to be held the same day at 11.30am in Seminar Room 1, Professor
McLaren will introduce a discussion of 'A race of human machines':
robots and eugenics in inter-war Britain' The paper is available by emailing:
[log in to unmask]
If you would like to join us for dinner (and pay for yours) at 7pm,
at a local restaurant, please email [log in to unmask] by 2pm
on Tuesday 1 December.
Supported by the Wellcome Trust.
All welcome!
Lecture abstract:
A 1922 trial marked the first time in history that a common law court
dealt with the subject of artificial insemination. Why did the issue
surface at this particular time? Seeking to provide some answers directs
our attention to the ways in which commentators in the inter-war years
attributed enormous social significance to a rarely employed but simple
form of medical treatment. In the early twentieth century, just as the
subject of birth control split the medical world into radical and
populist types in favour of such discussions and the professional elite
who were opposed, remarkably similar responses were made to the issue of
artificial insemination. Two additional points are made by extending our
investigation into the 1930s and 40s. The first, which is hardly
surprising, is that a procedure welcomed by some as a remedy for the
unhappily infertile was long regarded by others as posing a threat to
Christian morality, traditional gender relationships, and the
respectability of the medical profession. The second and more unexpected
finding is that such debates reveal the extent and tenacity of eugenic
notions in Britain. Both opponents and defenders of artificial
insemination argued that they were motivated by a desire to improve the
race.
Workshop abstract:
In April, 1923 the play R.U.R. or Rossum's Universal Robots by the Czech
dramatist Karel Čapek was presented at St Martin's Theatre. As a result,
the term 'robot' entered the English language and such humanoids were
immediately hailed as icons of modernity. In the inter-war period a host
of commentators wrestled with the challenges posed by such 'mechanical
slaves'. Why such a fascination? Many of the reasons are fairly obvious.
For many in Britain, uncertain of the benefits of mechanization, the
mechanical man threatened to displace the human worker. What is less
obvious is that the robot story enjoyed added resonance because it could
also be read as a eugenicist parable. It is no exaggeration to say that
when the British were talking about automatons they were consciously or
not talking about the lower classes and how they might best be
controlled. Robot stories and eugenic accounts told much the same tale.
They both highlighted the promises and threats posed by modernity. The
harnessing of science and industry, they argued, could lead to
unparalleled progress, but if not directed by an enlightened elite with
the interests of the race at heart, the unleashed forces of
rationalization would cause disaster.
-------
Dr Francis Neary
Department of History & Philosophy of Science
University of Cambridge
Free School Lane
Cambridge CB2 3RH
www.hps.cam.ac.uk
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