Gorter and the Americanization of Dutch Science To what extent was Dutch science Americanized and how did this process manifest in Gorter’s career? Suzette Obbink, 3360512 11-1-2017 Supervisors: David Baneke and Ad Maas Abstract After the Second World War, Dutch scientists had to cope with an enormous knowledge gap between them and American scientists; hence transformations in the Dutch science system were necessary to remain part of the international scientific community. In this thesis, I surveyed whether this process of transforming developed in such a way that it followed American standards: to what extent was Dutch science Americanized? For this purpose, I focused on several aspects of this process – such as the adoption of reorganizational structures in science and education, or the embracement of American norms and values – by examining the career of experimental physicist C.J. Gorter and the institute he worked for: Leiden University. Both appeared to orient immediately towards America: many proposals for transformations were based on the American model. However, the universities’ preservation of their old dogma’s, and the conservative attitude of Dutch professors determined whether suggestions were actually implemented or not. Recommendations regarding reorganizations, such as an increase in the number of professors, often opposed the old principles, and hence were ignored. On the other hand, suggestions that were in line with the existing principles were realized, such as an extraordinary focus on fundamental science and the creation of a students’ community. Furthermore, American norms and values, such as the democratic attitude, were adopted only within the board of the prevailing conservatism. Consequently, the process of Americanization of Dutch science was most clearly visible in new organizations, in which new principles needed to be formulated. The existing institutes with a fixed regime, such as Dutch universities, got into a transitional phase in which new ideas were proposed – often in accordance with American examples – but were not implemented yet, due to the fact that its professors held on to the prevailing, and occasionally old-fashioned principles. 1 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 4 1.1. My research question .............................................................................................................. 7 1.2. Prof. C.J. Gorter ....................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2 Dutch and American science before the Second World War: Did Americanization occur? 12 2.1. Dutch and US science during the interwar years .................................................................. 12 2.2. Gorter’s study and early career ............................................................................................. 17 2.2.1. Gorter’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance program ........................................................... 18 2.3. Dutch views on the American educational system ............................................................... 22 2.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 24 Chapter 3 Gorter, Bloembergen and the early postwar recovery ........................................................ 26 3.1. Bloembergen and Gorter – how did they come into contact? ............................................. 27 3.2. Opposite effect of the war on USA and the Netherlands ..................................................... 29 3.3. Diminishing the knowledge gap: scientists and politicians ................................................... 31 3.3.1. Efforts of Dutch scientists .............................................................................................. 32 3.3.2. Efforts by Dutch politicians ........................................................................................... 34 3.4. Diminishing the knowledge gap: Gorter, Bloembergen & Leiden University ....................... 37 3.4.1. Plea for a students’ community .................................................................................... 37 3.4.2. Gorter and Bloembergen: raise the number of scientific workers ............................... 40 3.4.3 Funding .......................................................................................................................... 42 3.4.4. Harvard-Leiden Institute ............................................................................................... 44 3.4.5. Bloembergen back to Harvard ....................................................................................... 45 3.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 47 Chapter 4 Gorter, Americanization and the Verbond voor Wetenschappelijke Onderzoekers ............. 49 4.1. International control on nuclear science .............................................................................. 50 4.1.1. The possibility of control on nuclear energy: Baruch and Gromyko Plan ..................... 51 2 4.1.2. What the Netherlands could do (I): Gorter’s internationalism ..................................... 53 4.1.3. What the Netherlands could do (II): cooperation between small countries ................ 56 4.2. Military research ................................................................................................................... 59 4.3. Science and Society ............................................................................................................... 64 4.3.1. Relation between university and society ...................................................................... 64 4.3.2. Reorganization of the university board ......................................................................... 68 4.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 70 Chapter 5 The aftermath: Casimir Committee ...................................................................................... 73 5.1 The Casimir Committee ......................................................................................................... 74 5.2. Content of the report ............................................................................................................ 75 5.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 79 Chapter 6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 81 6.1. General developments .......................................................................................................... 81 6.2. Gorter’s suggestions .............................................................................................................. 83 6.3. Absence of implementations ................................................................................................ 84 6.4. Final conclusions .................................................................................................................... 86 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 89 References ............................................................................................................................................. 89 Archives ............................................................................................................................................. 89 Oral interviews .................................................................................................................................. 89 Books and articles.............................................................................................................................. 89 Internet sources ................................................................................................................................ 93 3 Chapter 1 Introduction In his speech on 7 April 1941, Johan Huizinga (1872-1945), head of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division in the ‘Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences’ (Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie voor Wetenschappen, or ‘KNAW’) said: ‘This is and remains one of the most valuable characteristics of Dutch intellect, that it is able to experience strange influences and to consider foreign thoughts, without even slightly losing the spirit of its own nationality.’1 He pointed out that the Netherlands had been sensitive to external influences, yet it kept its own identity. In this thesis, I will survey whether Dutch scientists were able to maintain this attitude after the Second World War, when Dutch science had to cope with new, strong external influences, mainly from America. After the development and usage of nuclear weapons by the US military in 1945, Dutch scientists realized that the Netherlands were behind in scientific development. They started to fear that they would be left out of international scientific discussions. In order to