THE REDIRECTION OF THE NIELS BOHR INSTITUTE IN THE 1930S: RESPONSE TO CHANGING CONDITIONS FOR BASIC SCIENCE ENTERPRISE

The scientific redirection of Niels Bohr's Institute for Theoretical Physics in the 1930s, which entailed the successful transition from atomic to nuclear physics, was induced by changing conditions for the international enterprise of basic science, and Bohr's ability to take advantage of these changes.;The argument is divided into four main parts. The first part delineates the constancy into the mid-1930s of both the "best-science" funding conditions for scientific research at Bohr's institute and of the nature of that research itself.;The second part shows Bohr's exposure to two major changes in the conditions for directing leading basic science institutions: the appearance of scientist refugees from Nazi Germany, and the Rockefeller Foundation's pioneering attempt to direct international basic science. Although Bohr was personally involved in the refugee problem, and was eagerly sought by the Rockefeller Foundation as a candidate for its new "experimental biology" program, by early 1934 Bohr had still not allowed these developments to affect the direction of his institute.;The third part describes how this situation changed in the course of 1934. First, Bohr took advantage of the Rockefeller Foundation Emergency Program for the refugees, which differed from traditional funding practice by providing help not for students but for the most established professors. He thus obtained support for the prominent experimentalists James Franck and George Hevesy to work at his institute. Bohr's decision to turn his institute toward nuclear physics was directed toward securing a research project for his two close friends and colleagues.;Second, after Bohr had made this decision, his response to the Rockefeller Foundation's "experimental biology" program changed drastically. Hevesy's wish to apply his radioactive indicator technique to biological problems merged precisely with the Rockefeller Foundation's schemes for "experimental biology"; his proposed project required furthermore the same experimental apparatus as a full-scale turn to nuclear physics. Bohr quickly seized the opportunity to negotiate for substantial funding from the Rockefeller Foundation.;The last part delineates Bohr's consolidation of the scientific transition until the Second World War. He continued to obtain substantial funding that was used to develop the increasingly independent pursuits of nuclear physics and experimental biology at his institute.