BioScience has appointed a panel of distinguished experts who will screen nominations, and the journal will commission essays by experts on experiments judged worthy of recognition. The contest does not seek to identify a single "winner," but may honor several experiments. Experiments from any period in history will be considered. Further details about the contest are available at BioScience online at www.aibs.org/bioscienceonline.
Although scientists do not normally judge experiments by the subjective criterion of beauty, the notion has a precedent. In 2002, Robert P. Crease invited readers of Physics World to nominate beautiful physics experiments. And the late science historian Frederic Lawrence Holmes entitled a 2001 book 'Meselson, Stahl, and the Replication of DNA: A History of "The Most Beautiful Experiment in Biology."' The invitation to presidents of the 86 member societies of the American Institute of Biological Sciences was sent by Timothy Beardsley, editor-in-chief of BioScience, and Gregory J. Anderson, 1997 distinguished alumni professor and head of the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut-Storrs. Anderson serves as chair of the American Institute of Biological Sciences' publications committee.
"This is a light-hearted contest, but the underlying purpose is serious: to encourage biologists to think creatively about well known and less well known experiments," said Beardsley. The expert panel that will screen nominations consists of Richard M. Burian, Professor of Philosophy and Science and Technology Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (and a member of the BioScience editorial board); Jane Maienschein, Regents Professor of Philosophy and Biology at Arizona State University; Scott F. Gilbert, Professor of Biology at Swarthmore College; and John Beatty, Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. Those nominating an experiment are asked to provide a proper citation and a brief description of their reasons for believing the experiment worthy of recognition.
BioScience publishes commentary and peer-reviewed articles covering a wide range of biological fields. The journal has been published since 1964. The American Institute of Biological Sciences is an umbrella organization for professional scientific societies and organizations that are involved with biology. It represents 90 member societies and organizations with a combined membership of over 247,000.
AIBS: www.aibs.org
BioScience online: www.aibs.org/bioscienceonline