The Niels Bohr Archive's
History of Science Seminar
Monday, 13 May 2002 at 14:15
Aud. M, Niels Bohr Institute
Blegdamsvej 21, Copenhagen

Mary Jo Nye
Horning Professor, Department of History,
Oregon State University at Corvallis

The Character of Leadership in Scientific Life:
P.M.S. Blackett and Modern British Physics

P.M.S. Blackett, Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1948, was a director of physics laboratories, a leader in the British Admiralty for wartime operational research, and an active voice in British science policy. This paper poses the questions of how Blackett came to be an effective and influential leader of research schools. How is the scientific leader's authority and influence established and perceived? Is there a role for charisma in definitions of scientific leadership, as suggested in some studies of research schools? What is specifically British in the character of Blackett's achievement?