Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on the decades from the 1930s through the 1960s, the author discusses the scientists, social scientists, philosophers, and historians who fought the Christian biases that had kept Jews from fully participating in American intellectual life. He also explores the long-postponed acceptance of Jewish immigrants in a variety of settings.
Trade Review"A collection of incisive essays that present a complex portrait of intellectual and sociological change, linking the two in convincing fashion."--Deborah Dash Moore, Journal of Jewish Studies "David Hollinger's new collection of essays is best compared to a string of pearls. Each of the eight pieces is a self-contained gem of clear prose, meticulous scholarship, and ingenious conjecture. Yet all are strung along a single thread, aptly indicated by the book's title, Science, Jews, and Secular Culture... This is a smart, timely, and thoroughly enjoyable book."--Suzanne Klingenstein, The Journal of American History "This is a first-rate treatment of a pivotal change in American history."--Jonathan Dorfman, Washington Post Book World
Table of ContentsPrefaceCh. 1Introduction3Ch. 2Jewish Intellectuals and the De-Christianization of American Public Culture in the Twentieth Century17Ch. 3The "Tough-Minded" Justice Holmes,Jewish Intellectuals, and the Making of an American Icon42Ch. 4Two NYUs and "The Obligation of Universities to the Social Order" in the Great Depression60Ch. 5The Defense of Democracy and Robert K. Merton's Formulation of the Scientific Ethos80Ch. 6Free Enterprise and Free Inquiry: The Emergence of Laissez-Faire Communitarianism in the Ideology of Science in the United States97Ch. 7Academic Culture at the University of Michigan, 1938-1988121Ch. 8Science as a Weapon in Kulturkampfe in the United States during and after World War II155Index175
