Gordon Cain Conference

The Gordon Cain Conference is an annual gathering of scholars in the history of science and related fields. Each conference is organized by eminent scholars who work with staff to develop a theme of broad contemporary relevance and brings together historians and other researchers from around the world.

The Cain Conference series is hosted by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry and supported by a generous gift from the late entrepreneur Gordon Cain.

2024
Storytelling as Pedagogy: Historical Biographies in STEM and Social Studies
Organized by Sabrina N. Collins, Lawrence Technological University

2023
Science in Humanities, Humanities in Science: Embedded Connections
Organized by Jeremy A. Greene, Johns Hopkins University; Dolly Jørgensen, University of Stavanger, Norway; Victoria Lee, Ohio University; and Amy Slaton, Drexel University

2022
Let’s Get to Work: Bringing Labor History and the History of Science Together
Organized by Alexandra (Alix) Hui, Mississippi State University; Lissa L. Roberts, University of Twente; and Seth Rockman, Brown University

2021
Diplomatic Studies of Science: The Interplay of Science, Technology, and International Affairs after the Second World War
Organized by Maria Rentetzi, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

2018
Where to Put It All? Some Thoughts about Collections, Museums, and History

Organized by Steven Conn, Miami University

2017
Chemistry in the Americas, 1500–1800

Organized by John Christie, University of Oxford, and Carin Berkowitz, Science History Institute

My Data, My Self: A Century of Self-Tracking Health Technologies
Organized by Deanna Day, Amanda L. Mahoney, and Ramya M. Rajagopalan, Science History Institute

2016
Life in the Universe: Past and Present

Organized by David DeVorkin, National Air and Space Museum

2015
Curators, Popularizers, and Showmen: Science in Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Exhibitions and Museums
Organized by Bernard Lightman, York University

2014
Chemical Reactions: Chemistry and Global History

Organized by Lissa L. Roberts, University of Twente

2013
Sensing Change: Environmental Issues in Art and Science
Organized by Dehlia Hannah, Arizona State University

2012
E pluribus unum: Bringing Biological Parts and Wholes into Philosophical Perspective

Organized by Lynn Nyhart, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Scott Lidgard, Field Museum of Natural History

2011
Chemical Weather and Chemical Climate: Body, Place, Planet in Historical Perspective

Organized by Jim Fleming, Colby College

2010
Personalizing Medicine Here and Now: Empirical Studies of Post-Genomic Medicine
Organized by Alberto Cambrosio, McGill University

2009
Technology Transfer and Diffusion in Comparative Perspective
Organized by Bruce Seely, Michigan Technological University

2008
The Dilemma of Dual Use
Organized by Roy MacLeod, University of Sydney

2007
New Chemical Bodies
Organized by Jody A. Roberts, Science History Institute

2006
Towards a History and Philosophy of Expertise
Organized by Christopher Hamlin, University of Notre Dame

2005
Nano Before There Was Nano: Historical Perspectives on the Constituent Communities of Nanotechnology
Organized by Cyrus C. M. Mody, Cornell University

2004
City, Industry, and Environment in Transatlantic Perspective
Organized by Donna Rilling, State University of New York at Stony Brook

2003
Risk and Safety in Medical Innovation
Organized by Arthur Daemmrich, Cornell University

2002
Industry and Governance: Changing Relations among Science-Based Corporations, Government, and the Public
Organized by Arthur Daemmrich, Cornell University

2001
The Chemical Industry and the Environment
Organized by Christian W. Simon, University of Basel, Switzerland

1999
Pharmaceutical Innovation: Revolutionizing Human Health
Organized by David B. Sicilia, University of Maryland

1998
The 20th-Century American Chemical Industry

Organized by Stephen B. Adams, Lucent Technologies

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