The Molecular Vista: Current Perspectives on Molecules and Life in the 
Twentieth Century

Grote, Mathias; Onaga, Lisa; Creager, Angela N. H.; Chadarevian, Soraya de; Liu, Daniel; Surita, Gina; Tracy, Sara E.

doi:10.1007/s40656-020-00364-5

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The Molecular Vista: Current Perspectives on Molecules and Life in the Twentieth Century

MPS-Authors

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Onaga, Lisa
Department Artifacts, Action, Knowledge, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Max Planck Society;

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Creager, Angela N. H.
Department Artifacts, Action, Knowledge, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons193952

Chadarevian, Soraya de
Department Artifacts, Action, Knowledge, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Max Planck Society;

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Liu, Daniel
Department Artifacts, Action, Knowledge, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Max Planck Society;

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Surita, Gina
Department Artifacts, Action, Knowledge, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Max Planck Society;

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Grote2021_Article_TheMolecularVistaCurrentPerspe.pdf
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Citation

Grote, M., Onaga, L., Creager, A. N. H., Chadarevian, S. d., Liu, D., Surita, G., et al. (2021). The Molecular Vista: Current Perspectives on Molecules and Life in the Twentieth Century. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 43(1, Article 16): 16. doi:10.1007/s40656-020-00364-5.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0008-0191-2

Abstract

This essay considers how scholarly approaches to the development of molecular biology have too often narrowed the historical aperture to genes, overlooking the ways in which other objects and processes contributed to the molecularization of life. From structural and dynamic studies of biomolecules to cellular membranes and organelles to metabolism and nutrition, new work by historians, philosophers, and STS scholars of the life sciences has revitalized older issues, such as the relationship of life to matter, or of physicochemical inquiries to biology. This scholarship points to a novel molecular vista that opens up a pluralist view of molecularizations in the twentieth century and considers their relevance to current science.