Staff profile
Dr Joseph D. Martin
Associate Professor (History of Science and Technology)
Affiliation | Room number | Telephone |
---|---|---|
Associate Professor (History of Science and Technology) in the Department of History | ||
Steering Group Member in the Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society (CHESS) |
Biography
I am a historian of science and technology, focusing on the modern physical sciences. I earned a PhD from the Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine at the University of Minnesota in 2013. Before joining Durham, I spent time at Colby College, Michigan State University, the Consortium for History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, and the University of Cambridge.
My current research investigates history of categorisation practises in science. How did scientists and societies negotiate the boundaries of concepts, including the boundaries of science itself, from the nineteenth through the early twenty-first centuries? How have these boundaries been enforced by institutions, and with what consequences? What happens to the categories we use to make cultural sense of science as scientific practice changes around them? These questions are crucial for understanding the solidification of science’s cultural authority during the twentieth century, and for navigating our contemporary relationships with scientific expertise.
Some of my other interests include:
· The sciences of stuff—that is, solid state physics, condensed matter physics, and materials science. My 2018 book, Solid State Insurrection, traced the growth of American solid state physics, showing how it remade the scope and mission of American physics and the identity of American physicists in ways that helped physics maintain its outsized role on Cold War American society.
· The role of industrial patronage in post–World War II university research. I have examined how universities like Michigan and Chicago partnered with industry in order to check government influence over basic research, especially in nuclear science, from the conviction that industry support offered an avenue to academic freedom.
· The pedagogy and popular image of science. The communication of science—through both teaching and public engagement—is crucial to understanding its historical importance. My work has examined the pedagogical practices of the carbon physicist Mildred Dresselhaus, the public prestige asymmetries between different areas of physics, and John Tyndall’s 1872–73 American lecture tour.
· Philosophical questions about contingency in the history of science and how they can inform the methodology of history and philosophy of science.
I welcome inquiries from potential postgraduate students interested in studying any aspect of modern science and technology, particularly the physical sciences, scientific institutions and patronage, or Cold War science and technology.
Research groups
Media Contacts
Available for media contact about:
- History & Archaeology: History of Modern Science and Technology
Publications
Authored book
- Martin, Joseph D. (2018). Solid State Insurrection: How the Science of Substance Made American Physics Matter. University of Pittsburgh Press.
Book review
- Martin, Joseph D. (2021). The Relativity of Theory by Moti Mizrahi: On the Necessity of History in Philosophy of Science. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 87: 170-172.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2021). Demystifying Manhattan. Metascience
- Martin, Joseph D. (2020). A Global History of Changing Knowledge. Physics Today 73(9): 55-56.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2020). Thomas C. Lassman, Edward Condon’s Cooperative Vision: Science, Industry, and Innovation in Modern America. Minerva 58(2): 315–317.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2019). The Ether Drag Show. Endeavour 43(3): 100693.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2018). Truth with a Vengeance. Science 360(6391): 864.1.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2018). The Experimenter's Redress. H-Sci-Med-Tech
- Martin, Joseph D. (2017). Who Owns the Twentieth Century? (And Is It Worth Owning?). Isis 108(1): 149–157.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2016). A Paean to Contingency. Metascience 25(3): 437-441.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2015). How Revolutionary Was the Scientific Revolution? Physics Today 68(4): 53-54.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2015). New Straw for the Old Broom. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 54: 138–143.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2014). Linnda R. Caporael, James R. Griesemer, and William C. Wimsatt (eds): Developing Scaffolds in Evolution, Culture, and Cognition. Acta Biotheoretica 62(4): 531-535.
Chapter in book
- Martin, Joseph D. (2022). Critiques of Big Science. In Debating the Societal Impact of Big Science in the 21st Century. Arabatzis, Theodore & Charitos, Panagiotis Institute of Physics.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2020). Tools for Characterizing Materials. In Between Making and Knowing: Tools in the History of Materials Research. Martin, Joseph D. & Mody, Cyrus C. M. World Scientific. 403–424.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2020). Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. In Between Making and Knowing: Tools in the History of Materials Research. Martin, Joseph D. & Mody, Cyrus C. M. World Scientific. 561–569.
- Martin, Joseph D. & Mody, Cyrus C. M. (2020). Lithography. In Between Making and Knowing: Tools in the History of Materials Research. Martin, Joseph D. & Mody, Cyrus C. M. World Scientific. 327–340.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2020). Scales and Balances. In Between Making and Knowing: Tools in the History of Materials Research. Martin, Joseph D. & Mody, Cyrus C. M. World Scientific. 53–61.
- Martin, Joseph D. & Mody, Cyrus C. M. (2020). Introduction: Tools in Materials Research. In Between Making and Knowing: Tools in the History of Materials Research. Martin, Joseph D. & Mody, Cyrus C. M. World Scientific. 1–12.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2019). Cultural Scaffolding and Technological Change. In Beyond the Meme: Development and Structure in Cultural Evolution. Love, Alan C. & Wimsatt, William C. University of Minnesota Press. 20: 425-444.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2018). Seitz, Frederick. In American National Biography. Ware, Susan Oxford University Press.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2015). Nuclear, High Energy, and Solid State Physics. In A Companion to the History of American Science. Montgomery, Georgina M. & Largent, Mark A. John Wiley. 186-198.
Edited book
Edited Journal
- Martin, Joseph D., Mateos, Gisela, Munns, David P. D. & Suárez-Díaz, Edna (2021). Revealing the Michigan Memorial–Phoenix Project. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, 51 (2).
- Fisher, Amy A. & Martin, Joseph D. (2016). Emerging Prospects for History of the Physical Sciences. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, 46 (3).
- Martin, Joseph D. & Janssen, Michel (2015). Making the History of Physics Dirtier. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, 45 (5).
Journal Article
- Bolinska, Agnes & Martin, Joseph D. (2021). The Tragedy of the Canon; or, Path Dependence in the History and Philosophy of Science. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 89: 63-73.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2021). Science in the Age of Invincible Surmise: Nuclear Optimism and the Michigan Memorial–Phoenix Project. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 51(2): 179-208.
- Martin, Joseph D., Mateos, Gisela, Munns, David P. D. & Suárez-Díaz, Edna (2021). Special Issue Introduction: Historical Peculiarity and the Order of the Phoenix. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 51(2): 169-178.
- Federico, Lydia E. & Martin, Joseph D. (2021). PTSD: equity in diagnostic practice. The Lancet Psychiatry 8(12): 1024-1026.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2021). On Revolutions and Scientific Monuments. History in Politics 1(1): 68-73.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2020). The Simple and Courageous Course: Industrial Patronage of Basic Research at the University of Chicago, 1945–1953. Isis 111(4): 697-716.
- Bolinska, Agnes & Martin, Joseph D. (2020). Negotiating History: Contingency, Canonicity, and Case Studies. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 80: 37-46.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2019). Mildred Dresselhaus and Solid State Pedagogy at MIT. Annalen der Physik 531(10): 1900274.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2019). When Condensed-Matter Physics Became King. Physics Today 72(1): 30-37.
- Besley, John C., Zahry, Nagwan R., McCright, Aaron, Elliott, Kevin C., Kaminski, Norbert E. & Martin, Joseph D. (2019). Conflict of Interest Mitigation Procedures May Have Little Influence on the Perceived Procedural Fairness of Risk-Related Research. Risk Analysis 39(3): 571–585.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2017). Resource Letter HCMP-1: History of Condensed Matter Physics. American Journal of Physics 85(2): 87-97.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2017). Prestige Asymmetry in American Physics: Aspirations, Applications, and the Purloined Letter Effect. Science in Context 30(4): 475-506.
- Besley, John C., McCright, Aaron M., Zahry, Nagwan R., Elliott, Kevin C., Kaminski, Norbert E. & Martin, Joseph D. (2017). Perceived Conflict of Interest in Health Science Partnerships. PLOS ONE 12(4): e0175643.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2016). The Peaceful Atom Comes to Campus. Physics Today 69(2): 40-46.
- Fisher, Amy A. & Martin, Joseph D. (2016). Special Issue Introduction: Emerging Prospects for History of the Physical Sciences. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 46(3): 261-269.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2015). Fundamental Disputations: The Philosophical Debates that Governed American Physics, 1939-1993. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 45(5): 703-757.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2015). What’s in a Name Change? Physics in Perspective 17(1): 3-32.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2015). Evaluating Hidden Costs of Technological Change: Scaffolding, Agency, and Entrenchment. Techné Research in Philosophy and Technology 19(1): 1-25.
- Martin, Joseph D. & Janssen, Michel (2015). Beyond the Crystal Maze: Twentieth-Century Physics from the Vantage Point of Solid State Physics. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 45(5): 631-640.
- Martin, Joseph D. (2013). Is the Contingentist/Inevitabilist Debate a Matter of Degrees? Philosophy of Science 80(5): 919-930.
Newspaper/Magazine Article
- Martin, Joseph D. (2021). Motivate, Situate, Evidence, Illustrate: Teaching beyond Primary and Secondary Sources. Perspectives on History 59(6): 23-25.
- Halina, Marta & Martin, Joseph D. (2019). Five Ways AI Is Not Like the Manhattan Project (and One Way It Is). 3 Quarks Daily
- Martin, Joseph D. (2019). El estado sólido y el nuevo mapa de la física. Investigación y Ciencia
Other (Digital/Visual Media)