Faculty & Staff

Paul Farber

Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Modern Life Sciences, Intellectual History
Department of History
306 Milam Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: (541) 737-1273
Fax: (541) 737-1257
Email: pfarber@oregonstate.edu

Paul Farber's research focuses on the history of the life sciences since the eighteenth century.

Background

• Farber has studied the emergence of scientific disciplines such as ornithology, the naturalist tradition, and the development of evolutionary ethics. In addition, he has been active in promoting the use of history of science in teaching biology and held a joint appointment in the Department of Zoology.
• His current research focuses on the history of ideas about race-mixing.
• Professor Farber studied zoology as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh and then received a masters (1968) and a doctoral (1970) degree in history and philosophy of science at Indiana University. He has taught at Oregon State since 1970. Visiting appointments have included the University of Washington, Cambridge University, and Imperial College (London). Professor Farber has served on the Council of the History of Science Society and is its incoming President, is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the History of Biology, and was Secretary of Section L (History and Philosophy of Science) of the AAAS for eight years.

Publications

• Finding Order in Nature: The Naturalist Tradition from Linnaeus to E.O. Wilson, (2000).
• Discovering Birds: the Emergence of Ornithology as a Scientific Discipline, (1997).
• The Temptations of Evolutionary Ethics, (1994).
• "Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science," American Biology Teacher, 65(5):347-354, (2003).
• "Race-Mixing and Science in the United States," Endeavor, 27(4):166-170, (2003).

A method of catching birds at night from Yarell, 1843