Feb. 2017 undark.org article about Nazi persecution of Jewish scientists & damage potential of any anti-science policies in USA today
Fascinating and insightful though disturbing article: A Math Lesson From Hitler’s Germany, Prejudice and anti-science ideology destroyed the world’s leading math department. It couldn’t happen here, could it? by Evelyn Lamb, https://undark.org/article/math-lesson-hitlers-germany/, Feb. 1st 2017.
I felt it appropriate to summarise below some key points (from my point of view) of the article.
The article states that on April 7th 1933, two months after Hitler became chancellor, a new law was passed in Germany that Jews (those considered Jewish by Germany) and communists could not hold civil service jobs (with few exceptions)! That resulted in several mathematicians in the famous University of Göttingen losing their jobs! Within a year, the article states, "a total of 18 left or were driven out"
That, over the decades, seems to the main factor for Germany (and Europe) losing its pre-eminence in Mathematics and Science, and which pre-eminence shifted to the USA!!! Nazi persecution of Jewish (or whom they considered to be Jewish) mathematicians (and other scientists like Einstein) in the 1930s, followed by wise moves from some USA patrons and farsighted mathematician(s), allowed USA mathematics and science to flourish for decades after that!
However, the new immigrant Jewish scientists in the USA did face concerns beside some USA anti-semitic sentiment! In an environment of high unemployment (it was the Great Depression period), "every foreign scholar imported means an American out of a job" was the view of some, as per MIT mathematics professor, Nobert Weiner.
In the context of the above mentioned background, the article raises concerns that in the USA, under the new administration of President Trump, there may be an anti-science environment which may badly hurt USA science!!! It quotes Robbert Dijkgraaf, the current Director of the "Institute for Advanced Study" in Princeton, N.J., USA which attracted many mathematicians who fled Nazi persecution in the 1930s, as saying, "In some sense every scholar is at risk" .. "It’s not so much that people are persecuted because of their beliefs, but there is a certain trend where careful reasoning, the search for truth, all the delicacies of having a balanced point of view, acting on facts, being honest about what you do and don’t know, your uncertainty, all these values we have in science and scholarship are at risk."
Albert Einstein is the most famous German scientist who moved from Germany to the above "Institute for Advanced Study" in Princeton, N.J., USA.
The article also states that an expert on German history in the University of Utah, Julia Ault, opines that the dismissal of experts and appeals to populism are dangerous.
These words in the concluding part of the article by its author Evelyn Lamb, are very noteworthy and worth heeding, in my considered opinion.
[I thank Evelyn Lamb and undark.org, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing some short extracts from their article/website on this post on a matter of social concern, which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
I felt it appropriate to summarise below some key points (from my point of view) of the article.
The article states that on April 7th 1933, two months after Hitler became chancellor, a new law was passed in Germany that Jews (those considered Jewish by Germany) and communists could not hold civil service jobs (with few exceptions)! That resulted in several mathematicians in the famous University of Göttingen losing their jobs! Within a year, the article states, "a total of 18 left or were driven out"
That, over the decades, seems to the main factor for Germany (and Europe) losing its pre-eminence in Mathematics and Science, and which pre-eminence shifted to the USA!!! Nazi persecution of Jewish (or whom they considered to be Jewish) mathematicians (and other scientists like Einstein) in the 1930s, followed by wise moves from some USA patrons and farsighted mathematician(s), allowed USA mathematics and science to flourish for decades after that!
However, the new immigrant Jewish scientists in the USA did face concerns beside some USA anti-semitic sentiment! In an environment of high unemployment (it was the Great Depression period), "every foreign scholar imported means an American out of a job" was the view of some, as per MIT mathematics professor, Nobert Weiner.
In the context of the above mentioned background, the article raises concerns that in the USA, under the new administration of President Trump, there may be an anti-science environment which may badly hurt USA science!!! It quotes Robbert Dijkgraaf, the current Director of the "Institute for Advanced Study" in Princeton, N.J., USA which attracted many mathematicians who fled Nazi persecution in the 1930s, as saying, "In some sense every scholar is at risk" .. "It’s not so much that people are persecuted because of their beliefs, but there is a certain trend where careful reasoning, the search for truth, all the delicacies of having a balanced point of view, acting on facts, being honest about what you do and don’t know, your uncertainty, all these values we have in science and scholarship are at risk."
Albert Einstein is the most famous German scientist who moved from Germany to the above "Institute for Advanced Study" in Princeton, N.J., USA.
The article also states that an expert on German history in the University of Utah, Julia Ault, opines that the dismissal of experts and appeals to populism are dangerous.
These words in the concluding part of the article by its author Evelyn Lamb, are very noteworthy and worth heeding, in my considered opinion.
"Institutions are fragile. They are easier to destroy than build. A few months of Hitler’s policies unraveled two centuries of mathematical progress in Göttingen."...
"America benefited hugely from the intellects of displaced mathematicians and scientists 80 years ago. And while America’s scientific institutions are not facing the same sudden existential threat Göttingen did in April 1933, their work and their scholars can still be seriously undercut by anti-science and anti-intellectual policies. It would be a tragic irony if American mathematics and science, which owe much of their status and success to the German prejudices of another era, were brought low by a kindred set of attitudes in this one."
[I thank Evelyn Lamb and undark.org, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing some short extracts from their article/website on this post on a matter of social concern, which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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