Ullica Segerstråle

Ullica Segerstråle
Born
Ullica Christina Olofsdotter Segerstråle

(1945-10-10) October 10, 1945
Finland
EducationUniversity of Helsinki
University of Pennsylvania
Harvard University
Scientific career
FieldsHistory of science
Sociology of science
WorkplacesIllinois Institute of Technology
Thesis Whose Truth Shall Prevail? Moral and Scientific Interests in the Sociobiology Controversy[1]  (1983)

Ullica Christina Olofsdotter Segerstråle (born October 10, 1945) is a Finnish-American sociologist and historian of science who is professor of sociology at the Illinois Institute of Technology.[2][3]

Segerstråle's published nonfiction books include Defenders of the Truth: The Battle for Science in the Sociobiology Debate and Beyond (2000) and Nature’s Oracle: The Life and Work of W. D. Hamilton (2013), the latter of which is the first biography of evolutionary biologist W.D. Hamilton.[4][5]

Early life and education

Ullica Christina Olofsdotter Segerstråle was born October 10, 1945, in Finland.[6] She holds two M.S. degrees – one in organic chemistry and one in sociology – from the University of Helsinki, as well as an M.A. in communication from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University.[7]

Her Ph.D. thesis, supervised jointly by sociologist Alessandro Pizzorno, historian of science Everett Mendelsohn and positive psychologist[8][9] Philip J. Stone,[10] described the sociobiology controversy of the 1970s that she had witnessed first-hand as a postgraduate student at Harvard, and it subsequently formed the basis of an article published in the first issue of Biology & Philosophy in 1986.[11][12] The thesis was welcomed by E.O. Wilson and dismissed by his opponent Richard Lewontin.[11] In 1985, Wilson's copy of the thesis was allegedly sought after by W.D. Hamilton to prepare Richard Dawkins's defence against the neurobiologist Steven Rose's libel lawsuit over Dawkins's review of Not in Our Genes, and Dawkins consulted Segerstråle himself on perceptions of sociobiology.[13]

Recognition

A Guggenheim Fellow in 2002,[14] she was elected a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2012.[4] She was elected member of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters in 2003[15] and a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science.[16]

Books

  • Segerstråle, Ullica, ed. (2000). Beyond the Science Wars: The Missing Discourse about Science and Society. SUNY Press.
  • Segerstråle, Ullica (2000). Defenders of the Truth: The Battle for Science in the Sociobiology Debate and Beyond. Oxford University Press.
  • Segerstråle, Ullica (2013). Nature's Oracle: The Life and Work of W. D. Hamilton. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860727-4.

References

  1. ↑ "Whose truth shall prevail?: moral and scientific interests in the sociobiology controversy". Harvard Library. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Contributor biographical information for Library of Congress control number 00703257". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  3. ↑ Hoyt, Erich (March 21, 1997). The Earth Dwellers: Adventures in the Land of Ants. Simon and Schuster. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-684-83045-2. ...Ullica Segerstråle, a sociologist and historian of science...
  4. 1 2 "Segerstrale Elected Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts". IIT Today. Illinois Institute of Technology. March 9, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  5. ↑ Gee, Maggie (March 12, 2013). "Nature's Oracle: The Life and Work of W D Hamilton by Ullica Segerstrale: review". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  6. ↑ Finlands ridderskaps och adels kalender 1992, p. 542. Esbo 1991. ISBN 951-9417-26-5
  7. ↑ Segerstråle (2013).
  8. ↑ Wang, Ying (June 7, 2006). "Positively Pioneering". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
  9. ↑ Miller, Andrew C. (March 20, 2006). "200 Gather To Remember Positive Psych Pioneer". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
  10. ↑ Segerstråle, Ullica Christina (1983). Whose Truth Shall Prevail? Moral and Scientific Interests in the Sociobiology Controversy (Thesis). Harvard University. p. ii.
  11. 1 2 Campbell, Colin (November 9, 1986). "Anatomy of a Fierce Academic Feud". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
  12. ↑ Segerstrale, Ullica (March 1986). "Colleagues in conflict: An 'in vivo' analysis of the sociobiology controversy". Biology & Philosophy. 1 (1): 53–87. doi:10.1007/bf00127089. ISSN 0169-3867. S2CID 170270819.
  13. ↑ Segerstråle, Ullica (2000). Defenders of the Truth: The Battle for Science in the Sociobiology Debate and Beyond. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 192. ISBN 0-19-850505-1.
  14. ↑ "Ullica Segerstråle". John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  15. ↑ SPHINX Yearbook 2023–2024. Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica. 2024. p. 333. ISBN 978-951-653-518-3.
  16. ↑ "Ullica Segerstrale". IIT Lewis College of Human Sciences. Illinois Institute of Technology. Retrieved September 16, 2018.


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