Gerald Jonas, celebrated New York Times and New Yorker journalist and author of The Circuit Riders: Rockefeller Money and the Rise of Modern Science, came to UB to lecture at the Health Sciences Library on Friday, Oct. 26.
His talk, entitled "Follow the Money," described the historical rise of science funding and research and its relationship with aristocracy and the benevolent rich. It touched on Circuit Riders and covered the history of science from the mid-17th century to the present. Approximately 40 faculty and community members attended the lecture, which was held in the main reading room on the Library's second floor.
"Follow the Money" began with the history of the Royal Society of London, which published the first known science research journal, "The Proceedings of the Royal Society."
According to Jonas, "scientist" was originally a term for those fundraisers interested in advancing the field of "natural philosophy."
"The linguistic battles were mostly over by the 1850s," Jonas said, moving on to the topic of the Rockefellers.
Jonas explained that John D. Rockefeller was pressured by his contemporaries and trusted advisors into donating to good causes and was told that "whomever dies richest" has wasted their fortune.
John D. Rockefeller donated millions of dollars to the University of Chicago and its medical program over many years and is quoted as saying it was "the best investment I ever made."
According to Jonas, in 1910 the University of Chicago and UB (at the time the "University of Buffalo") were both given poor reviews in the Flexner Report, which evaluated the utility of medical programs across the nation.
Jonas ended his presentation with the history of penicillin, which in part due to financial crisis, could have been invented post-WWII.
"If it had been invented in 1946, a lot of people would have died," he said.
When asked about the state of science funding in the United States, Jonas admitted that he is not pleased with the current President's policies.
"The big thing is that the Bush administration suppresses science findings that don't fit their political agenda," he said.
Staff members and faculty agreed that the presentation was improved by the facilities of the building.
"It went very well," said Health Sciences Library Manager Linda Lohr. "It couldn't have happened without all these people." She went on to add that the main reading room and libraries are "just beautiful."
Jonas praised the building staff's use of technology, stating that the evening was one of his smoothest talks thus far.
"It went off without a hitch," he said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
