Pnina G. Abir-Am

Areas of Expertise

History of Science; Women’s Studies; Social Studies of Science

Email: pninaga@brandeis.edu

Current Project

I will be working on two projects: 1) “DNA at 50” explores the construction of a public memory for the discovery of DNA structure in 2003, especially the growing awareness of the role of Rosalind Franklin; and, 2) “Creative couples and scientific credit” explores the polarized recognition of American scientists Esther and Joshua Lederberg, (1922-2008) who collaborated on several discoveries.

Biography

Pnina G. Abir-Am has published widely in the history of science, especially on molecular biology, women and gender, and the politics of collective memory.  She received the first History of Science Award for outstanding research essay in the history of women in science.  Her work has been translated into French, Spanish, Chinese, and is well known in the international arena.  She has taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Ottawa (Bilingual University of Canada), where she also served as Joint Chair of Women’s Studies (jointly with Carleton University).  She has lectured in over a dozen  countries including keynote addresses in the US, Venezuela, Holland, and Israel.

Education

Ph.D., University of Montreal

M.Sc., Hebrew University of Jerusalem

B.Sc., Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Representative Publications

Abir-Am, Pnina. “Molecular Biology and its Recent Historiography.” History of Science 44 (March 2006): 95-118.

Uneasy Careers and Intimate Lives, Women in Science, 1789-1979, Rutgers University Press, 1989.

Links

Curriculum Vitae 

Personal Web Page

Scientific Legacies

Scientific Legacies - Pnina Abir-Am