Michael Dietrich
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Michael R. Dietrich (born November 7, 1963,
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, United States) is a professor of the history and philosophy of science at the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
. His research concerns developments in twentieth century genetics, evolutionary biology, and developmental biology, with a special emphasis on scientific controversies.


Early life

Born into a military family, Dietrich spent his early life in a number of different locations in the United States and Germany. He earned his B.A. in Philosophy and Biology with a minor in Chemistry from
Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
in 1985, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
in 1991, where
Philip Kitcher Philip Stuart Kitcher (born 20 February 1947) is a British philosopher who is John Dewey Professor Emeritus of philosophy at Columbia University. He specialises in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of biology, the philosophy of mathema ...
was his advisor.Megan Scudellari, Drawn to Controversy, ''The Scientist''. January 1, 2014


Scholarship

Although trained in philosophy, Dietrich's scholarship is primarily historical and interdisciplinary with a focus on scientific controversy. He has written extensively about the role of controversy in
molecular evolution Molecular evolution is the process of change in the sequence composition of cellular molecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins across generations. The field of molecular evolution uses principles of evolutionary biology and population genetics ...
with the introduction of the
neutral theory of molecular evolution The neutral theory of molecular evolution holds that most evolutionary changes occur at the molecular level, and most of the variation within and between species are due to random genetic drift of mutant alleles that are selectively neutral. The ...
and the subsequent neutralist-selectionist controversy. His histories of molecular evolution are complemented by philosophical analysis of the importance of random
genetic drift Genetic drift, also known as allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance. Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and there ...
in evolutionary biology, the
neutral theory of molecular evolution The neutral theory of molecular evolution holds that most evolutionary changes occur at the molecular level, and most of the variation within and between species are due to random genetic drift of mutant alleles that are selectively neutral. The ...
, and the
molecular clock The molecular clock is a figurative term for a technique that uses the mutation rate of biomolecules to deduce the time in prehistory when two or more life forms diverged. The biomolecular data used for such calculations are usually nucleoti ...
. He has collaborated with Robert Skipper Jr and
Roberta Millstein Roberta L. Millstein is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Davis, with affiliations in the Science and Technology Studies Program and the John Muir Institute for the Environment. She is the Senior Co-chair of the Philosophy ...
on a number of articles on the history and philosophy of population genetics, evolution, and random genetic drift. Dietrich's interest in controversy extends to controversial scientists as well, most notably the geneticist
Richard Goldschmidt Richard Benedict Goldschmidt (April 12, 1878 – April 24, 1958) was a German-born American geneticist. He is considered the first to attempt to integrate genetics, development, and evolution. He pioneered understanding of reaction norms, gen ...
, who was branded a scientific heretic for his views on the gene, macroevolution, and hopeful monsters. Together with
Oren Harman Oren Harman is a writer and historian of science. Biography Oren Harman was born in Jerusalem on January 25, 1973. He grew up and was educated in Jerusalem and in New York City, where he attended the Collegiate School for Boys and excelled at ...
, Dietrich has edited a trilogy of books concerning biologists. The first, ''Rebels, Mavericks, and Heretics in Biology'' (Yale University Press, 2008) featured essays on iconoclastic biologists. The second, ''Outsider Scientists: Routes to Innovation in Biology'' (University of Chicago Press, 2013), examined the conditions that allowed scientists trained outside of biology to make innovations within biology. The third, ''Dreamers, Revolutionaries, and Visionaries in the Life Sciences'' was published in 2018. Dietrich also co-edited ''The Educated Eye: Visual Culture and Pedagogy in the Life Sciences'' (University Press of New England, 2012) with Nancy Anderson. In 2021, he published two additional co-edited books: ''Nature Remade: Engineering Life, Envisioning Worlds'' (University of Chicago Press, 2021) with Luis Campos, Tiago Saraiva, and Christian Young. and ''Handbook of the Historiography of Biology'' (Springer, 2021) with Oren Harman and Mark Borrello.


Appointments

Dietrich is currently a professor at the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
and Chair of the History and Philosophy of Science Department. From 1998 to 2017, he was a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
. Before moving to Dartmouth in 1998, he taught in the History and Philosophy of Science Program at the
University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
. From 2003 to 2005, Dietrich served as President of the
International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology The International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) is an international academic organization founded in 1989. It is the largest and most important meeting for the fields of philosophy of biology, histo ...
(ISHPSSB). He was Editor-in-Chief of the ''
Journal of the History of Biology The ''Journal of the History of Biology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of biology as well as philosophical and social issues confronting biology. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media and the edito ...
'' from 2012 to 2017, and is Editor of the ''Mendel Newsletter'', which is published by the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. Dietrich is a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
. He was elected Chair of Section L of the AAAS in 2017.


Books

*''Rebels, Mavericks, and Heretics in Biology,'' Edited by Oren Harmon and Michael R. Dietrich, Yale University Press, 2008. *''The Educated Eye: Visual Culture and Pedagogy in the Life Sciences,'' Edited by Nancy Anderson and Michael R. Dietrich, University Press of New England, 2012. *''Outsider Scientists: Routes to Innovation in Biology,'' Edited by Oren Harmon and Michael R. Dietrich,University of Chicago Press, 2013. *''Dreamers, Visionaries, and Revolutionaries in the Life Sciences'', Edited by Oren Harmon and Michael R. Dietrich, University of Chicago Press, 2018. *''Nature Remade: Engineering Life, Envisioning Worlds'' (University of Chicago Press, 2021) with Luis Campos, Tiago Saraiva, and Christian Young. *''Handbook of the Historiography of Biology'' (Springer, 2021) with Oren Harman and Mark Borrello.


References


External links


Michael R. Dietrich website
via University of Pittsburgh
Megan Scudellari, Drawn to Controversy, The Scientist.
January 1, 2014
Mendel Newsletter
via the American Philosophical Society
Journal of the History of Biology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietrich, Michael R. 1963 births Living people Philosophers of science University of Pittsburgh faculty