Lily E. Kay (May 22, 1947 – December 18, 2000) was a

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

noted for her studies of

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

Education and early life

Kay was born in Kraków, Poland, the daughter of concentration camp survivors. The family relocated to Israel and then, in 1960, to the United States. Kay graduated from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1969 and in 1986 earned her Ph.D from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in the history of science.

Teaching, research, and fellowships

Before earning her Ph.D, Kay taught high school physics, worked as a biochemistry research associate at the University of Pittsburgh and a senior research assistant at the

Salk Institute The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among th ...

. While there, she studied the molecular biology of viruses. Kay spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. She taught the history of science at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and then spent eight years at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. She was awarded a

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1997. Kay then worked as an independent scholar and held guest appointments at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and the

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) is a scientific research institute founded in March 1994. It is dedicated to addressing fundamental questions of the history of knowled ...

. At the time of her death, Kay was studying serial computing, artificial intelligence, and models of brain function.

Scholarship

In ''The Molecular Vision of Life'' (1993), Kay focused upon elite players in Pasadena, where she centered the creation of the field of molecular biology, and argued that "pure" science is influenced by pragmatism (and, in the case of molecular biology, the goals of eugenics). Norman H. Horowitz of

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

, offended by both Kay's approach (he deemed it antireductionist, fundamentally political and antiscientific) and her characterization of scientists of his acquaintance (he lamented her failure to ask his personal opinion of these men), dismissed its historiographical value.

Joshua Lederberg Joshua Lederberg (May 23, 1925 – February 2, 2008) was an American molecular biology, molecular biologist known for his work in microbial genetics, artificial intelligence, and the United States space program. He was 33 years old when he won t ...

and

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling ( ; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist and peace activist. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. ''New Scientist'' called him one of the 20 gre ...

were among those with positive opinions of the book, which has become a classic work. In ''Who Wrote the Book of Life?'' (1999), Kay argued that information theory influenced research in molecular biology, as well as the rhetoric surrounding the field in the 1950s and 1960s. Solomon Golomb deemed it revisionist history, unconvincing based upon his professional experience, yet well-researched and accurate.

Richard Lewontin Richard Charles Lewontin (March 29, 1929 – July 4, 2021) was an American evolutionary biologist, mathematician, geneticist, and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, ...

endorsed Kay's poststructuralist approach and her assertion of the ambivalent results of the deployment of metaphors.R. C. Lewontin, "In the Beginning Was the Word," ''Science'' Vol. 291, No. 5507 (16 Feb 2001): 1263-1264, http://www.biosino.org/hgp/Science-Lewontin291%285507%291263.htm (accessed 1 July 2015).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Lily E. American historians of science University of Pittsburgh alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Chicago faculty Polish emigrants to the United States 1947 births 2000 deaths