Jacques Loeb

Description

Rman born, Jacques Loeb was both a biologist (nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1901) & political activist. Drawing on his correspondence, the authors highlight Loeb's organizational actions & political opinions during the years of 1906 to 1924, the year of his death. As a social activist & scientist, Loeb influenced, Rasmussen & Tilman say, "the scientific community, the politically sensitive public, & ultimately the underlying population against conservative & reactionary attitudes toward race, ethnicity, poverty, criminality, war & religion." In chapters on Loeb's research agenda, position on World War I, social activism, his influence on the economist Thorstein Veblen & finally on his philosophy & politics, the authors sketch a man who was hailed early in his career for his work on spontaneous generation of marine embryos & recognized later for his active challenge to social intolerance. (Source: Google Books API)