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The Acceptance and Rejection of Immunological concepts

The Acceptance and Rejection of Immunological concepts Immunology is rich in concepts. Some of these, like "suppressor cells" and "helper cells," are difficult for the outsider to grasp and still more difficult to apply, but others, like "monoclonal antibodies," have been widely applied outside immunology. Still other concepts-e.g. DNA rearrangement­ have pioneered scientific advance in a wide area of molecular biology. The history of immunology is fascinating in part because the central concepts that power its research have changed so rapidly. In the 30 years before 1948, the word "lymphocyte" did not appear in the index of the Journal ofImmunology ( 1). Today, half of the papers in that much expanded journal involve research on some aspect of lymphocytes. What accounts for the rise and fall of biological concepts? It is my thesis that acceptance or rejection of a particular concept by the scientific community does not rest entirely on direct experimental evidence, but on the general milieu of related concepts that have preceded and followed it. This rather simplified version of Kuhn's paradigm theory (2) is based entirely on my own experience during nearly 40 years of research in immunology. It is by no means a documented study of the sociology of scientific advance. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Annual Review of Immunology Annual Reviews

The Acceptance and Rejection of Immunological concepts

Talmage, David W.
Annual Review of Immunology , Volume 4 (1) – Apr 1, 1986
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Publisher
Annual Reviews
Copyright
Copyright 1986 Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
Subject
Review Articles
ISSN
0732-0582
eISSN
1545-3278
DOI
10.1146/annurev.iy.04.040186.000245
pmid
2939854
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Immunology is rich in concepts. Some of these, like "suppressor cells" and "helper cells," are difficult for the outsider to grasp and still more difficult to apply, but others, like "monoclonal antibodies," have been widely applied outside immunology. Still other concepts-e.g. DNA rearrangement­ have pioneered scientific advance in a wide area of molecular biology. The history of immunology is fascinating in part because the central concepts that power its research have changed so rapidly. In the 30 years before 1948, the word "lymphocyte" did not appear in the index of the Journal ofImmunology ( 1). Today, half of the papers in that much expanded journal involve research on some aspect of lymphocytes. What accounts for the rise and fall of biological concepts? It is my thesis that acceptance or rejection of a particular concept by the scientific community does not rest entirely on direct experimental evidence, but on the general milieu of related concepts that have preceded and followed it. This rather simplified version of Kuhn's paradigm theory (2) is based entirely on my own experience during nearly 40 years of research in immunology. It is by no means a documented study of the sociology of scientific advance.

Journal

Annual Review of Immunology – Annual Reviews

Published: Apr 1, 1986

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