William C. Summers

Professor of Therapeutic Radiology, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and History of Medicine at Yale University.

Education/Experience: Janesville (Wisconsin) High School, University of Wisconsin, Madison; BS (Math); MS (Radiobiology), MD, PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison., MIT; NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biophysics, Yale University, Faculty.

Office: 332 BASS; Mailing address: PO Box 208114, New Haven, CT 06520-8114

Fax: 203-432-5175; email: william.summers@yale.edu

Courses I am teaching during 2008-2009 (click on course number to see course description and syllabus)

Other courses I have taught recently:

Class Schedule for 2008-2009

Recent selected publications:

Research Projects:

The early history of molecular biology is embedded in the work of physicists who applied concepts from physics to biological systems. One major aspect of this early work was the development of the target theory. The detailed history of the origins of the target theory has been reconstructed from the published literature and from archival material. The next phase of this project will examine the formation and influences of the American Phage Group. This material will form some of the background against which the larger history of molecular biology will be placed.



Beginning in October 1910, a major epidemic of pneumonic plague swept through Manchuria and by the spring of 1911 had killed between 45,000-60,000 people. The plague and its aftermath were to play an important role in the geopolitical events leading up to the Japanese takeover of Manchuria and complex causes of World War II. The concentrated force of this epidemic, its near 100 percent mortality rate, and its occurrence in a region of international competition and diplomatic struggle all contributed to the importance and interest in the Manchurian plague. The "Manchurian Question" was of immense interest in the United States: America had just enjoyed its first taste of successful international leadership upon Roosevelt's brokering the peace treaty of 1905 that ended the Russo-Japanese war over territorial rights in Manchuria. Russia, on the other hand was intent on retaining what she could of her centuries-old foothold in east Asia. Japan, modernizing after the Meiji restoration in 1868, was experiencing international ambitions and expansionism in Korea and Manchuria, in its own version of "manifest destiny." China, under the yoke of war reparations owed to both the Western Powers and to Japan as the result of the ill- fated Boxer Rebellion in 1895, was struggling with its first efforts at modernization while still governed by the decaying, and increasingly ineffective Qing dynasty. This project aims to elucidate the multiple uses which was made of the plague to exhibit the importance of epidemic disease in geopolitics.

Links:

Click here to send email to Professor Summers

This page last updated: 25 May 2008