A Tribute To Robert K. Merton On Receiving The National Medal Of Science

As Bob spoke about his boyhood in Philadelphia, his coming of age as a young Harvard intellectual, and the factors that fueled his preoccupation with the history of science and the behavior of scientists, I was touched by a variety of emotions. As often during the 30 years or so that I've known him, I was fascinated by his capacious intellect and his knack for originating concepts and expressing them in clear, evocative terms. (Whet

| 3 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share

As Bob spoke about his boyhood in Philadelphia, his coming of age as a young Harvard intellectual, and the factors that fueled his preoccupation with the history of science and the behavior of scientists, I was touched by a variety of emotions. As often during the 30 years or so that I've known him, I was fascinated by his capacious intellect and his knack for originating concepts and expressing them in clear, evocative terms. (Whether writing or speaking, he knows how to hold his audience.) I was also proud, since he has worked closely with me as mentor, colleague, and coauthor. I must confess as well to a certain amount of civic pride, since The Scientist--like Bob Merton--has its roots in the City of Brotherly Love.

ACLS couldn't have made a more appropriate selection for the 1994 Haskins lectureship. That was also my reaction to the recent news that Bob ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Eugene Garfield

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
May digest 2025 cover
May 2025, Issue 1

Study Confirms Safety of Genetically Modified T Cells

A long-term study of nearly 800 patients demonstrated a strong safety profile for T cells engineered with viral vectors.

View this Issue
iStock

TaqMan Probe & Assays: Unveil What's Possible Together

Thermo Fisher Logo
Meet Aunty and Tackle Protein Stability Questions in Research and Development

Meet Aunty and Tackle Protein Stability Questions in Research and Development

Unchained Labs
Detecting Residual Cell Line-Derived DNA with Droplet Digital PCR

Detecting Residual Cell Line-Derived DNA with Droplet Digital PCR

Bio-Rad
How technology makes PCR instruments easier to use.

Making Real-Time PCR More Straightforward

Thermo Fisher Logo

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Biotium Launches New Phalloidin Conjugates with Extended F-actin Staining Stability for Greater Imaging Flexibility

Leica Microsystems Logo

Latest AI software simplifies image analysis and speeds up insights for scientists

BioSkryb Genomics Logo

BioSkryb Genomics and Tecan introduce a single-cell multiomics workflow for sequencing-ready libraries in under ten hours

iStock

Agilent BioTek Cytation C10 Confocal Imaging Reader

agilent technologies logo