Allen Debus was born in Chicago, Illinois, an only child. He grew up in Evanston, a suburb to the north of Chicago, where he attended public schools. Interested in chemicalengineering, he was accepted at Rose-Hulman in Indiana, but anticipating that he would be drafted into the Army, he decided to attend Northwestern University instead so that he could remain at home. Never drafted, he earned a BS in chemistry, with almost enough credits for a second major in history. From there he went to Indiana University as assistant to John Murray, who advised Debus to write his master's thesis on the history of chemistry in the Tudor-Stuart period. Instead, Debus met and married Brunilda Lopez-Rodriguez; both took chemist jobs at Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, Illinois.
After working at Abbott for about five years, Debus decided to seek a Ph.D. in the history of science, a field of study in only three schools: Harvard University, University of Wisconsin, and Cornell University. He chose Harvard, where he wrote his dissertation on theEnglish Paracelsians under I. Bernard Cohen.
He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to University College in London, attracted there by Douglas McKie. He met Walter Pagel, who served as a long-distance dissertation advisor. When Debus returned he gave a paper at a meeting of the History of Science Society, at which Cohen introduced him to Cyril Smith of the University of Chicago. Debus was invited to meet the other faculty at University of Chicago and was then offered an assistant professorship. At that time there had been only seven previous Ph.D.'s granted to history of science students at Harvard, and Debus was one of the first in the history of chemistry, so Debus' appointment wasin the history department. Eventually the Morris Fishbein Center for the Study of the History of Science and Medicine was established at the University, and Debus became its first director. He retained his named chair into his retirement, which occurred in 1996.
Debus' academic interest has long been 17th century chemistry. Paracelsus and peoplelike him were interested not in making gold from base metals, but in understanding nature through analysis by fire. Debus wanted to study the place of chemistry in the scientificrevolution with materials available to all; to that end he has a large collection of rare books from this time period, a collection he began in the early 1940's. He says that he has about 650 such books, the earliest from 1501. A scholar not just of the Paracelsians but also of vaudeville music, Debus also collects phonograph records dating from the 1890-1930's; of these he has more than 15,000, with 40 machines to play them on. He writes notes for historic compact discs of American popular music.
Debus has won many prestigious awards in his nearly 40 years at the University of Chicago, and he has published many books and articles. He continues his research and his music-listening at his home in Deerfield, Illinois.
Abbott Laboratories
1951 - 1956
Research and Development Chemist, work on new commercial method for production of Novocaine (U.S. Patent 2,935,525)
Harvard University
1957 - 1959
Teaching Fellowship
University of Chicago
1961 - 1965
Assistant Professor of the History of Science
University of Chicago
1965 - 1968
Associate Professor of the History of Science
University of Chicago
1968 - 1978
Professor of the History of Science
University of Chicago
1971 - 1977
Director, Morris Fishbein Center for the study of the History of Science and Medicine
University of Chicago
1978 - 1996
Morris Fishbein Professor of the History of Science and Medicine
University of Chicago
1996 - 2009
Morris Fishbein Professor Emeritus of the History of Science and Medicine
Title and Description Page
Family Background 1
Born in Chicago, Illinois. Raised in Evanston, Illinois. Attends public schools. Some influential teachers.
College Years 3
Admitted to Northwestern University to study engineering. Switched to chemistry. More interested in history. Began master's degree at Indiana University but quit to get married. Worked at Abbott Laboratories.
History of Science Student 5
Decides to attend Harvard University for PhD in history of science. Begins study of English Paracelsians under I. Bernard Cohen. Wins Fulbright to London. Meets Walter Pagel.
University of Chicago 12
Accepts assistant professorship in history department. Gradually changes from teaching undergraduate physics to graduate history. Oriental Institute brings Noel Swerdlow from Yale. Morris Fishbein Center for the Study of the History of Science and Medicine established. Debus named director of Fishbein Center; then has named chair. Continues to collect books, particularly rare books dealing with 17th century alchemy. Also collects records of American popular music from 1890–1940. Discusses his favorite books and records. Pictures of Debus and books. Picture of the Debuses.
Bibliography 60
Index 62
James J. Bohning
James J. Bohning is professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he was a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and has presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was the foundation’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. He is currently a visiting research scientist and CESAR Fellow at Lehigh University. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society.