Science in National Cultures: The Message of Postage Stamps

Abstract

Scientists in Britain believe that their work does not receive the recognition that it deserves from the national culture in comparison with continental Europe. Not an easy proposition to test, but possible through a comparison of how the achievements of science have been celebrated through representation on stamps. Postage stamps are official government products, and they are used to transmit and define the official view of the national culture. In this paper I give three examples of the sorts of comparisons that can be made. First, a geographical comparision (Britain, West Germany and France) during the period 1951–1990. Second, a consideration of how the different scientific disciplines have been treated in the three countries. Third, an analysis of the effect of the political system on the way that science is celebrated by comparing the stamps of West and East Germany.

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References

1 C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures, Canto edn ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1993).

2 At the British Association meeting in 1997, Professor Frank Close deplored the fact that the Royal Mail had failed to celebrate the centenary of the discovery of the electron that year, whereas the discoveries of Rontgen and Becquerel had recently received such recognition in their own countries. See also C. C. Rassam, The Second Culture (London: Aurum, 1993), 26.

3 R. A. Jones, “‘Why can’t you scientists leave things alone?’: Science questioned in British films of the post-war period (1945–1970)” , Public Understanding of Science 10 (2001): 365–382 and references therein.

4 D. Altman, Paper Ambassadors: The Politics of Stamps ( North Ryde, NSW: Argus and Robertson , 1991)

5 Quoted in S. Rose, Royal Mail Stamps (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980), 67. See also Tony Benn, Out of the Wilderness: Diaries 1963–1967 (London: Hutchison, 1987), 192 ff.

6 See, for example “Give Byron his due, plead devotees” Guardian (7 September 1999).

7 R. A. Jones, “Heroes of the nation? The celebration of scientists on the postage stamps of Great Britain, France and West Germany,” Journal of Contemporary History, 36 (2001): 403–422 .

8 P. G. Abir-Am, Introduction to Commemorative Practices in Science: Historical Perspectives on the Politics of Collective Memory , ed. P. G. Abir-Am and C. A. Elliott, Osiris 14 (1999): 29-29 .

9 Ibid, p. 11.

10.

10 R. G. Stokes, Constructing Socialism: Technology and Change in East Germany 1945–1990 ( Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press , 2000), 177-177.

11.

11 Quoted in Dieter Hoffmann, “The divided centenial: the 1958 Max Planck celebration(s) in Berlin,” in Commemorative Practices in Science: Historical Perspectives on the Politics of Collective Memory, eds Abir-Am and Elliott (cit. no. 8), 142-142.

12.

12 O. Gingerich,“The Copernican quinquecentennial and its predecessors: historical insights and national agendas,” in Commemorative Practices in Science: Historical Perspectives on the Politics of Collective Memory, eds Abir-Am and Elliott (cit. no. 8), 37–57.

13.

13 Stokes (cit. no. 10), 48.

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14 See, for example, F. A. Cotton, “US stamps ignore scientists too,” Chemistry in Britain (September 2002).

15.

15 Gingerich (cit. no 12), 39.

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16 D. Scott, European Stamp Design: A Semiotic Approach to Designing Messages ( London: Academy Editors , 1995).

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17 See, for example the advertisement for the “London Bridges“ stamps, Guardian, 9 September 2002.