The Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) has contributed to the success of the Czech pavilion at the World EXPO 2015 in Milan, the motto of which is: Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life. The motto was also reflected in the nine Days of Czech Science, held in early July under the partnership of the Joint Research Centre in Ispra. Several institutes of the CAS presented results of their most recent discoveries. The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, among others, displayed its research aimed at seeking new human medications for lifestyle diseases and showed, for instance, a human cell as a miniature “chemical plant” in which thousands of actions bring about the healthy functioning of an organism. The institute also prepared an exhibition entitled Czech Science fighting viruses, which also introduced one of the protagonists in this field, outstanding Czech scientist Antonín Holý.One of the Czech lecturers who addressed the audience both at the EXPO and in Ispra was Lenka Maletínská. She focused on the potential role of modified neuropeptides in the fight against obesity, which is also explained in the article by Lenka Maletínská and Jaroslav Kuneš in this edition. and Marina Hužvárová.
Tato studie je recenzní statí ke knize: Christian FLECK, A Transatlantic History of the Social Sciences: Robber Barons, the Third Reich and the Invention of Empirical Social Research. London: Bloomsbury Academic 2011. Z témat, jež rozvíjí Fleckova kniha, sleduje především otázku, jak velké americké nadace formovaly a profilovaly výzkumnou agendu sociálních věd. Je zde předvedeno, jak definice vědy prosazovaná ve dvacátých letech minulého století velkými americkými nadacemi zcela zásadně proměnila samotnou ideu výzkumu a přinesla mnohé institucionální inovace. Vztah filantropie a sociálněvědního výzkumu je sledován jak v obecném smyslu, z hlediska formativních idejí ovlivňujících vývoj sociální věd a reálnou vědeckou praxi, tak i ve vztahu k různým národním tradicím, roli jednotlivých nadací a jejich aktivitám směřujícím k prosazení specifické koncepce vědeckého výzkumu. Pozornost je zde věnována zejména Rockefellerově nadaci, jejíž koncept "realistického“ výzkumu významně ovlivnil institucionální dějiny sociálních věd. Studie se rovněž zaměřuje na styl psaní, jenž se uplatňuje v současných textech o dějinách nadací, zejména ve srovnání s dosud převažujícím důrazem na studium intelektuálních dějin sociálních věd., This study reviews the book: Christian FLECK, A Transatlantic History of the Social Sciences: Robber Barons, the Third Reich and the Invention of Empirical Social Research. London: Bloomsbury Academic 2011. It concentrates mainly on one part of Fleck’s account: on the analysis of the ways foundations and philanthropic organizations profiled and shaped the research agenda and the politics of knowledge in the social sciences. It is demonstrated how the definition of science promoted in the 1920’s by major American philanthropic foundations fundamentally changed the very idea of research and produced many institutional innovations. The relation of philanthropy and social scientific research is pursued both in a general sense, in terms of formative ideas in, uencing the development of social sciences and the actual scientific practice, and in relation to various national research traditions, the role of individual foundations and the activities of foundations aiming to promote their conception of scientific research. A special attention is paid to the Rockefeller Foundation, as its concept of “realistic” research significantly in, uenced the institutional history of the social sciences. This study also focuses on the style of writing, which is employed in contemporary texts on the history of foundations, especially in comparison with the still prevailing accent on the study of social science’s intellectual history., and Jan Balon.