THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF IMMUNOLOGY, 1951-1972 - A PROSOPOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS .3.

Immunology underwent a major change in direction during the 1950s and 1960s, from immunochemistry to immunobiology. A quantitative analysis of the participants at a large number of immunological meetings held d uring this critical period reveals much about the inner dynamics of th e discipline. This new approach enables us to define the scientific le adership of the discipline and of its emerging subdisciplines, the int erests of ''mainstream'' immunology, and when fields such as transplan tation and allergy begin to join the mainstream. It is also suggested that some of these meetings, in addition to reflecting changes within the field, may have contributed substantially to these changes. Furthe r, many of these meetings served to promote the institutionalization o f the discipline and of its subdisciplines. (C) 1994 Academic Press, I nc.