The social origins of sciences
The main focus of my research on science is on the emergence of scientific institutions. Using digitalized records of funding sources, research activities, and social ties, I examine how science went from an aristocratic hobby to an ordinary job marked by steady careers, specialized journals, and a complex division of labor. One current project centers on the origins of biological disciplines in the nineteenth century, while a second studies the evaluation of candidates for the Nobel Prize during the first several decades. I am also a co-organizer of the European Network for the Science of Science, which brings together researchers from different disciplines with shared interests in how science works.
Book Project:
The Economy of Trust: Patron and Amateur in the Origins of Biology, 1750-1914. In progress.
Papers:
Jacob Habinek and Zheng Fu. “The Matthew Effect Revisited: Social and Cultural Closure in Awarding the Nobel Prize in Physics.” Working paper.
Jacob Habinek. “Careers into Coalitions: The Birth of the Life Sciences Field in Germany, 1803–1883.” Working paper.
Jacob Habinek. 2021 “One Elite or Many? German, Swiss, and Austrian Scientists as Nobel Nominees and Nominators.” In Nils Hansson / Daniela Angetter-Pfeiffer (Hg.), Laureaten und Verlierer: Der Nobelpreis und die Hochschulmedizin in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht / Vienna University Press: 95-108.
Jacob Habinek and Heather A. Haveman, 2019. “Professionals and Populists: The Making of a Free Market for Medicine in the United States, 1787–1860.” Socio-Economic Review 17(1): 81-108.
Daniel Lee Kleinman, Jacob Habinek, and Steve Vallas. 2011. “Codes of Commerce: The Uses of Business Rhetoric in American Academia, 1960-2000.” In Hermanowicz, Joseph, ed., The American Academic Profession: Transformation in Contemporary Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press: 274-294.
Jacob Habinek. “State Formation and the Origins of Disciplinary Specialization in Nineteenth-Century Germany.” Center for Culture, Organizations, and Politics Working Paper #2010-03.
Book Project:
The Economy of Trust: Patron and Amateur in the Origins of Biology, 1750-1914. In progress.
Papers:
Jacob Habinek and Zheng Fu. “The Matthew Effect Revisited: Social and Cultural Closure in Awarding the Nobel Prize in Physics.” Working paper.
Jacob Habinek. “Careers into Coalitions: The Birth of the Life Sciences Field in Germany, 1803–1883.” Working paper.
Jacob Habinek. 2021 “One Elite or Many? German, Swiss, and Austrian Scientists as Nobel Nominees and Nominators.” In Nils Hansson / Daniela Angetter-Pfeiffer (Hg.), Laureaten und Verlierer: Der Nobelpreis und die Hochschulmedizin in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht / Vienna University Press: 95-108.
Jacob Habinek and Heather A. Haveman, 2019. “Professionals and Populists: The Making of a Free Market for Medicine in the United States, 1787–1860.” Socio-Economic Review 17(1): 81-108.
Daniel Lee Kleinman, Jacob Habinek, and Steve Vallas. 2011. “Codes of Commerce: The Uses of Business Rhetoric in American Academia, 1960-2000.” In Hermanowicz, Joseph, ed., The American Academic Profession: Transformation in Contemporary Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press: 274-294.
Jacob Habinek. “State Formation and the Origins of Disciplinary Specialization in Nineteenth-Century Germany.” Center for Culture, Organizations, and Politics Working Paper #2010-03.
Image: transition network between disciplines across 18 German universities, for institute directors active in 1850.