Ira Remsen, saccharin, and the linear model.
While working in the chemistry laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, Constantin Fahlberg oxidized the 'ortho-sulfamide of benzoic acid' and, by chance, found the result to be incredibly sweet. Several years later, now working on his own, he termed this stuff saccharin, developed methods of making it in quantity, obtained patents on these methods, and went into production. As the industrial and scientific value of saccharin became apparent, Ira Remsen pointed out that the initial work had been done in his laboratory and at his suggestion. The ensuing argument, carried out in the courts of law and public opinion, illustrates the importance of the linear model to scientists who staked their identities on the model of disinterested research but who also craved credit for important practical results.
Warner
Deborah J
DJ
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. warnerd@si.edu
D002621:Chemistry / Q000266:history*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D010330:Patents as Topic / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012106:Research / Q000266:history; D012439:Saccharin / Q000266:history*; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States
D013549:Sweetening Agents; D012439:Saccharin