It particularly mentioned George Shull, one of two people
sharing the main credit for originating hybrid corn (1906-07),
the other being Edward Murray East. The motive of these two
scientists in fact was quite exactly the opposite of what the
article says:
East and Shull were thinking at this time of developing
techniques which could be handled on the individual farm.
(A. Richard Crabbe, "The Hybrid-Corn Makers," 1947, p. 47)
Indeed, East had grave reservations about the hybrid concept
precisely because he was afraid that farmers would find it too
complex to produce their own hybrid seeds. It wasn't until two
decades later that a hybrid corn industry developed that
shifted that task from farmers to commercial breeders.
It is always tempting to project back to earlier scientistis
the same profit motive driving later commercializers of their
discoveries. But in this case, at least, to do so is a gross
injustice.
Moreover, Shull and East offer a refreshing contrast to
stereotype of the scientist who relentlessly pursues self-
aggrandizement (not to speak of personal financial gain) to the
detriment of scientific progress. Although they disagreed
sharply on certain technical aspects of hybrid corn, in order
no to impede progress toward their shared goal they
scrupulously avoided public criticism of each other's views,
and each kept the other well-informed on his work. Morever,
in 1910 they made an extraordinary agreement to not discuss
publicly the question of who deserved credit for what. East
kept this agreement until his death in 1938; Shull finally
broke it in 1942, feeling that the controversies over the best
approach had been resolved ("The Hybrid-Corn Makers", pp. 50-
51).
William Lockeretz
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