Allen G. Debus
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Allen Debus was born in Chicago, Illinois, an only child. He grew up in Evanston, a suburb to the north of Chicago, where he attended public schools. Interested in chemical engineering, he was accepted at Rose-Hulman in Indiana, but anticipating that he would be drafted into the Army, he decided to attend Northwestern University instead so that he could remain at home. Never drafted, he earned a BS in chemistry, with almost enough credits for a second major in history. From there he went to Indiana University as assistant to John Murray, who advised Debus to write his master's thesis on the history of chemistry in the Tudor-Stuart period. Instead, Debus met and married Brunilda Lopez-Rodriguez; both took chemist jobs at Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, Illinois. After working at Abbott for about five years, Debus decided to seek a PhD in the history of science, a field of study in only three schools: Harvard University, University of Wisconsin, and Cornell University. He chose Harvard, where he wrote his dissertation on the English Paracelsians under I. Bernard Cohen. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to University College in London, attracted there by Douglas McKie. He met Walter Pagel, who served as a long-distance dissertation advisor. When Debus returned he gave a paper at a meeting of the History of Science Society, at which Cohen introduced him to Cyril Smith of the University of Chicago. Debus was invited to meet the other faculty at University of Chicago and was then offered an assistant professorship. At that time there had been only seven previous PhD 's granted to history of science students at Harvard, and Debus was one of the first in the history of chemistry, so Debus' appointment was in the history department. Eventually the Morris Fishbein Center for the Study of the History of Science and Medicine was established at the University, and Debus became its first director. He retained his named chair into his retirement, which occurred in 1996. Debus' academic interest has long been 17th century chemistry. Paracelsus and people like him were interested not in making gold from base metals, but in understanding nature through analysis by fire. Debus wanted to study the place of chemistry in the scientific revolution with materials available to all; to that end he has a large collection of rare books from this time period, a collection he began in the early 1940's. He says that he has about 650 such books, the earliest from 1501. A scholar not just of the Paracelsians but also of vaudeville music, Debus also collects phonograph records dating from the 1890-1930's; of these he has more than 15,000, with 40 machines to play them on. He writes notes for historic compact discs of American popular music. Debus has won many prestigious awards in his nearly 40 years at the University of Chicago, and he has published many books and articles. He continues his research and his music-listening at his home in Deerfield, Illinois.
Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1947 | Northwestern University | BS | Chemistry |
1949 | Indiana University Bloomington | AM | History (assistant to John J. Murray) |
1961 | Harvard University | PhD | History of Science (under I. B. Cohen) |
Professional Experience
Abbott Laboratories
Harvard University
University of Chicago
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
---|---|
1957 to 1958 | Bowdoin Award in the Natural Sciences |
1959 to 1960 | Fulbright and Social Science Research Council Fellowship |
1960 to 1961 | Fels Foundation Fellowship |
1961 to 1962 | American Philosophical Society Research Grant |
1961 to 1963 | National Science Foundation Research Grant |
1962 to 1970 | National Institutes of Health Research Grant |
1966 to 1967 | Overseas Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge |
1966 to 1967 | Guggenheim Fellowship |
1969 | Overseas Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge |
1971 to 1974 | National Science Foundation Research Grant |
1972 to 1973 | Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton |
1974 to 1975 | National Institutes of Health Research Grant |
1975 to 1976 | National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, The Newberry Library, Chicago |
1977 to 1978 | National Science Foundation Research Grant |
1977 to 1978 | National Institutes of Health Research Grant |
1978 | Edward Kremers Award of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy |
1978 | Member, Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award Committee |
1978 | Pfizer Book Award, History of Science Society |
1980 to 1981 | National Science Foundation Research Grant |
1980 | Member, Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award Committee |
1981 to 1982 | Fellow, Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin |
1981 to 1983 | National Science Foundation Research Grant |
1982 | Appointed to the International Advisory Committee, the Cohn Institute for the History of Science and Ideas of Tel-Aviv University and the Sidney M. Edelstein Center for the History of Philosophy of Science of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem |
1983 | Invited Lecturer, University of Coimbra |
1984 to 1985 | Visiting Distinguished Professor, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Arizona State University |
1985 | DSc, Honorary, Catholic University of Louvain |
1985 to 1986 | Consultant, Literature and Science Curriculum, Georgia Institute of Technology |
1987 | NEH Fellow, The Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington, D. C. ) |
1987 | Elected Foreign Associate Member, Académico Correspondente Estrangeiro (Classe de Ciências) Académia das Ciências de Lisboa |
1987 | Dexter Award, American Chemical Society |
1988 | Member, International Program Committee, Portuguese meeting of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science |
1990 | Visiting Lecturer, Insituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici |
1990 | Visiting Professor, Instituto de Química, Universidade de Sãn Paulo, Brazil |
1992 to 1993 | Consultant to the History of Medicine Library of the National Library of Medicine for the 500th Anniversary of the birth of Paracelsus |
1992 to 1997 | National Institutes of Health Research Grant |
1993 to 1996 | Appointed to the International Advisory Committee, the Cohn Institute for the History of Science and Ideas of Tel Aviv University |
1994 | Sarton Medal, History of Science Society |
1996 | Distinguished Lecturer, History of Science Society |
Table of Contents
Born in Chicago, Illinois. Raised in Evanston, Illinois. Attends public schools. Some influential teachers.
Admitted to Northwestern University to study engineering. Switched to chemistry. More interested in history. Began master's degree at Indiana University but quit to get married. Worked at Abbott Laboratories.
Decides to attend Harvard University for PhD in history of science. Begins study of English Paracelsians under I. Bernard Cohen. Wins Fulbright to London. Meets Walter Pagel.
Accepts assistant professorship in history department. Gradually changes from teaching undergraduate physics to graduate history. Oriental Institute brings Noel Swerdlow from Yale. Morris Fishbein Center for the Study of the History of Science and Medicine established. Debus named director of Fishbein Center; then has named chair. Continues to collect books, particularly rare books dealing with 17th century alchemy. Also collects records of American popular music from 1890–1940. Discusses his favorite books and records. Pictures of Debus and books. Picture of the Debuses.
About the Interviewer
James J. Bohning was professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he had been a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was CHF’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. Bohning passed away in September 2011.