Review, Innocent Experiments
Throughout, Onion points to slippages between theories of childhood and the actual practice of science…Yet I was most intrigued by episodes where childhood did resemble science, if in unexpected ways. For instance, I often point out to my students that science is a paid occupation and that most scientists are middle managers—that is, much of science is drab and adult! So I was fascinated to learn that buyers of interwar chemistry kits were encouraged to form organizations with a leader, middle managers, and line staff and to seek remuneration for tasks involving their kits (e.g., testing water quality). Usually, the “childhood” analogized to science is a neoliberal fantasy of unfettered self-actualization. But perhaps the analogy works better if we acknowledge the mundane ways in which children’s and scientists’ lives are regimented and often boring and frustrating.
Cyrus C.M. Mody, ISIS, September 2017.