J. O. and Juliette Koepfli Professor of the Humanities, Emeritus
A.B., Princeton University, 1960; Ph.D., 1964. Assistant Professor of History, Caltech, 1964-68; Associate Professor, 1968-78; Professor, 1978-86; Koepfli Professor of the Humanities, 1986-2001; Koepfli Professor Emeritus, 2001-. Executive Officer for the Humanities, 1978-81.
Daniel Kevles received his BA in physics from Princeton University in 1960, and he spent a year studying European history at Oxford University before returning to Princeton to complete his PhD in history in 1964. His research and writings encompass the interplay of science, technology, and society past and present with a focus on the United States. His particular research interests include the history of physics, biology, scientific fraud, and misconduct; plant and animal breeding; biotechnology; intellectual property; and science, arms, and the state. Kevles retired from teaching at Caltech in 2001 and he went on to serve on the faculty in the department of history at Yale University.
Research Summary
History of Science and Medicine in the U.S. since 1939; Politics, Government, Science, Technology & National Security; Eugenics; Genetics; Biotechnology; Intellectual Property; Plant & Animal Breeding
Selected Publications
Books
Heirloom Fruits of America: Selections from the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection Berkeley, CA: Heyday Press, 2020), editor and author of the "Introduction"
Living Properties: Making Knowledge and Controlling Ownership in the History of Biology Co-edited with Jean-Paul Gaudilliere and Hans-Joerg Rheinberger. Preprint No. 382; Berlin: Max Planck Institute for History of Science, 2009.
Inventing America: A History of the United States Co-authored with Alex Keyssar, Pauline Maier, and Merritt Roe Smith. New York: W.W. Norton, 2002; 2nd edition 2006.
The Baltimore Case: A Trial of Politics, Science, and Character New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.
Le Scienze Biologiche e la Medicina Co-edited with Gilberto Corbellini, in Storia della Scienza, Vol. VIII, director, Sandro Petruccioli (Rome: Istituto delia Enciclopedia Italiana, 2004) pp. 659-953
The Code of Codes: Scientific and Social Issues in the Human Genome Project Edited with Leroy Hood, Harvard University Press, 1992; (paperback, 1993); published in Germany (Artemis and Winkler), 1994 and in Japan (Ague Shotu-Sha), 1997.
In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity Alfred A. Knopf, 1985; University of California Press, 1986 (paperback); Harvard University Press, 1995 (paperback with new preface). Also published in England (Penguin), Japan (Asahi), Spain (Editions Planeta), France (Presse Universitaire de France).
The Physicists: The History of a Scientific Community in Modern America Alfred A. Knopf, 1978. Vintage, 1979 (paperback); Harvard University Press, 1987,1995. Also published in France (Paris: Anthropos, 1988).
Curriculum Vitae