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Changing the `Denkstil' – A Case Study in the History of Molecular Genetics

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Abstract

The importance of experimental systems for the analysis of historical processes in science has grown in recent years. In this paper interactions between experimental systems and modes of interpretation are discussed. The discovery of the `base pairing principle' by Erwin Chargaff serves as an example to show how established laboratory routines and their development interact with the underlying theoretical framework and the `Denkstil' (style of thought) of a collective of researchers as it can be reconstructed from their publications. Unexpected evidence frequently produced by the experimental system initially escapes a satisfactory explanation and tends to initiate a process of self-conviction accompanied by a change of concepts and explanatory models so that they finally fit into interpretations conforming with the `Denkstil'.

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  1. Oberstufen-Kolleg, Universität Bielefeld, Universitätsstraße 23, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany

    Karl Peter Ohly

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  1. Karl Peter Ohly
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Ohly, K.P. Changing the `Denkstil' – A Case Study in the History of Molecular Genetics. Science & Education 11, 155–167 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014400903653

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