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Living with Your Biographical Subject: Special Problems of Distance, Privacy and Trust in the Biography of G. Ledyard Stebbins Jr.

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Abstract

This paper explores the special problems encountered by the biographer of a living scientific subject. Inparticular, it explores the complex of problems that emerges from the intense interpersonal dynamic involving issues of distance, privacy and trust. It alsoexplores methodological problems having to do with oral history interviews and other supporting documentation. It draws on the personal experience ofthe author and the biographical subject of G. Ledyard Stebbins Jr., the botanist, geneticist and evolutionist. It also offers prescriptives and recommendations for future research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department History, University of Florida, 4131 Turlington Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32611, U.S.A.

    Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis

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  1. Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis
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Smocovitis, V.B. Living with Your Biographical Subject: Special Problems of Distance, Privacy and Trust in the Biography of G. Ledyard Stebbins Jr.. Journal of the History of Biology 32, 421–438 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004731419724

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