To advance knowledge [[electronic resource] ] : the growth of American research universities, 1900-1940 / / Roger L. Geiger

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910783371703321
• Autore: Geiger Roger L. <1943->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York, : Oxford University Press, 1986
• ISBN: 1-280-43934-3; 9786610439348; 1-4237-3685-0; 0-19-536505-4; 1-60129-593-6
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (336 p.)
• Disciplina: 001.4/0973
• Soggetti: Research institutes - United States - History; Science - United States - History; Universities and colleges - United States
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliography and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- Contents -- 1. The Shaping of the American Research University, 1865-1920 -- 1. Toward a National System of Universities -- 2. Academic Disciplines -- 3. The Wealth of Universities -- 2. The Conditions of University Research, 1900-1920 -- 1. The Research System in 1900 and the Founding of Independent Research Institutions -- 2. Resources for University Research: The Treatment of Faculty -- 3. Resources for University Research: Capital and Project Funds -- 3. Research Universities from World War I to 1930 -- 1. Science and the University Go to War -- 2. Growth and Differentiation -- 3. The Collegiate Syndrome -- 4. Who Shall Go to College? -- 4. Foundations and University Research -- 1. Ways and Means: Defining the Foundations' Role -- 2. Foundations and Universities: The Social Sciences -- 3. Foundations and Universities: The Natural Sciences -- 4. Common Goals and Cross-purposes -- 5. The Privately Funded University Research System -- 1. Business and University Research -- 2. Institutional Patterns of University Research -- 3. Students, Professors, and Research -- 4. The Ascendancy of American Science -- ; 5. The Intellectual Migration -- 6. The Research Universities in the 1930s -- 1. Effects of the Depression -- 2. The Federal Government and University Research -- 3. Retrospect and Prospect -- APPENDIX -- NOTES -- INDEX.
• Sommario/riassunto: American scientific supremacy was built upon the strength of our research universities. This book shows how these universities laid the foundation for the ascendancy of American science in the first half of this century, when they went from being provincial outposts of international science to being the equal of the best European centers of learning. This is a rich social history that tells much not only about the growth of American higher education but also about American intellectual life in general and the politics of scientific research in education. How did research come to be a mojor function of universities? How did universities reconcile the demands of an active research program with their other institutional commitments? To answer these questions, Geiger ranges over a broad spectrum of topics, from the adoption of a selective admissions policy and the development of graduate schools to the continuing vitality of liberal arts colleges within university settings. The book includes fascinating sections on the bizarre attempt to militarize college campuses during World War I and on the backlash of the 1920's, when many major campuses became more concerned with social life than intellectual matters. One remarkable feature of the development of research universities, Geiger points out, was that it was largely accomplished through private resources. Individual philanthropy was responsible for establishing the wealth of the private research universities, and played a key role at several state universities as well. Foundations and corporations were also highly significant in developing the institutions' research capabilities. Geiger describes how each university resolved in its own way the conflict between the research role and other institutional commitments. The major research institutions he deals with are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT,; Columbia, Cornell, Pennsylvania, Stanford, the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, the California Institute of Technology, and the Universities of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California. About the Author: Roger L. Geiger is Associate Research Scientist at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University..