Medical Science in the Light of a Flawed Study of the Holocaust

Amsterdamska, Olga; Bonah, Christian; Borck, Cornelius; Fehr, Johannes; Hagner, Michael; Klingberg, Marcus A.; Löwy, Ilana; Schlünder, Martina; Schmaltz, Florian; Schnelle, Thomas; Tammen, Antke; Weindling, Paul; Zittel, Claus

doi:10.1177/0306312708098609

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Fleck's wartime observations on typhus were the basis of Eva Hedfors's accusations that Fleck collaborated with the Nazis (Hedfors 2008). These accusations have been categorically rejected by Fleck scholars (Amsterdamska et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fleck the Public Health Expert

Löwy

2015

Science, Technology, & Human Values

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Ludwik Fleck is known mainly for his pioneering studies of science as a social activity. This text investigates a different aspect of Fleck’s epistemological thought—his engagement with normative aspects of medicine and public health and their political underpinnings. In his sinuous professional trajectory, Fleck navigated between two distinct thought styles: fundamental microbiological research and practice-oriented investigations of infectious diseases. Fleck’s awareness of tensions between these two approaches favored the genesis of his theoretical reflections. At the same time, his close observation of medical and epidemiological practices led him to the conclusion that collectively produced scientific facts are situated and fragile. Thought collectives, Fleck explained, can err or yield to external pressures, with potentially disastrous consequences. While Fleck the reflexive experimental scientist has been creatively translated into the science studies idiom, Fleck the reflexive practical microbiologist and public health expert still awaits inspired translation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fleck the Public Health Expert

Löwy

2015

Science, Technology, & Human Values

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“…It looks very much like a character assassination. Meanwhile, however, her accusations of unethical behaviour on Fleck's part have been rebutted (Amsterdamska et al 2008; for a rejoinder see Hedfors 2008b; see also Weindling 2009;Weisz 2010). What still stands unanswered is Hedfors' charge that STS students and other commentators have failed to engage with the scientific issues in bacteriology and immunology to which more than one-half of Fleck's monograph is devoted: "In other words, at least half of the book, or the basis of Fleck's epistemology, has been either neglected or unquestioningly accepted" (Hedfors 2007a, 115;compare Hedfors 2006, 134-145).…”

Section: Fleck and The Science Warsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Collective Construction of a Scientific Fact: A Re-examination of the Early Period of the Wassermann Reaction (1906–1912)

Belt¹

2011

Social Epistemology

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Ludwik Fleck is widely recognized as a precursor of Science and Technology Studies, but his case study on the development of the Wassermann reaction as a test for detecting syphilis has never been subjected to detailed empirical scrutiny. The fact that Fleck's monograph is based on a limited set of documentary sources makes his work vulnerable to uncharitable critics. The problematic relation between thought collective and individual scientists in Fleck's theoretical approach is another reason for a systematic re-examination of his case study, using materials on the early period in the history of the Wassermann reaction (1906)(1907)(1908)(1909)(1910)(1911)(1912). My re-examination highlights several problems in Fleck's account: a misinterpretation of the switch from antigen detection to antibody detection; a neglect of the "clinical connection"; an overemphasis on the importance of collective experience leading to implausible views on gross retrospective distortions supposedly inflicted by this experience upon the memories of individual participants; and, finally, a misjudgement of the significance of the acrimonious dispute over the intellectual ownership of the Wassermann reaction. What remains unscathed is Fleck's picture of a zig-zag course of development from false initial assumptions via detours and cul-desacs to a clinically usable test in the end.

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“…His life and scientific legacy was discussed widely in various publications but some aspects require clarification, especially his contribution to the research on anti-typhus vaccine during his imprisonment in the 'Laokoon' factory, KL Auschwitz-Birkenau and KL Buchenwald. Due to the extensive controversy between the scientists, [1][2][3] we studied the work Ludwik Fleck undertook as recorded in surviving documents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lesser known aspects of Ludwik Fleck’s (1896–1961) heroic life during World War II

Grzybowski¹,

Ciesielska²

2016

J Med Biogr

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Professor Ludwik Fleck was a famous scientist and a prominent philosopher. Although his life and work were studied extensively, the Second World War period was a subject of some discussion and controversy. On account of his Jewish origin, he was first arrested and moved from the Lwów ghetto to the 'Laokoon' factory and then imprisoned in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau and in KL Buchenwald. Fleck produced the anti-typhus vaccine in the chemo-bacteriological laboratory in the Jewish Hospital at Kuszewicza Street and in the 'Laokoon' factory in Lwów. During his incarceration in KL Auschwitz-Birkenau, Fleck worked in the camp laboratory in Block 10 carrying out bacteriological studies for the inmates and then was assigned to work in the Wasserman station in Rajsko. From January 1944 Fleck performed routine laboratory tests in Block 50 in KL Buchenwald. Though Fleck had a privileged life in the camp, he participated in the sabotage activities organized by the camp resistance.

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Medical Science in the Light of a Flawed Study of the Holocaust

Cited by 12 publications

References 6 publications

Fleck the Public Health Expert

Fleck the Public Health Expert

The Collective Construction of a Scientific Fact: A Re-examination of the Early Period of the Wassermann Reaction (1906–1912)

Lesser known aspects of Ludwik Fleck’s (1896–1961) heroic life during World War II

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