This excellent book is a description and analysis of academic biology under the Nazis. This book has an interesting genesis. The author is a biologist and former high school science teacher who became a scholar. Deichmann's work was not supervised by a historian. Her mentor was Benno Muller-Hill, a prominent geneticist who has written about genetics and eugenics during the Nazi regime. Unlike many histories, this book has a quantitative focus; Deichmann assembled a good deal of data about appointments, research achievements, and funding by careful study of the appropriate archival records. The quantitative data is complemented by careful analysis of the scientific work done during this period and review of other writings of many of the involved scientists. Deichmann set out to answer a series of important questions. What was the impact the purge of Jews and leftist scientists on German biology. What happened to those purged? Did the purges affect the type or quality of work done in Germany? Did the Nazi regime hinder research, as was often claimed after the war? To what extent did the remaining biologists collaborate with the Nazi regime? What was the long term effect of the Nazi regime on German biology?
Deichmann shows that the purges affected a significant but not huge number of German biologists. Approximately 14% of the individuals she identifies as academic biologists were forced out of their positions. This is not a large number but Deichmann shows as well that the purged included a disproportionate number of very talented scientists, including some individuals who were world leaders and others, like the late Viktor Hamberger, who would become world leaders. Deichmann is careful to discuss the shortcomings of her methods of enumeration. She doesn't include biochemists, since they were apparently usually in chemistry faculties nor does she include other types of scientists, like chemists or physicists who later migrated into biology. Consequently, her assessment underestimates the long term effect of the purge of Jews and other undesirables. Deichmann shows as well that the purge was accompanied by little protest and a good deal of rather nasty careerism on the part of those who were not purged. Many of those purged were able to establish themselves abroad and had productive careers but many did not, resulting in the premature curtailment of important scientific careers. The type of work done in Germany remained largely unchanged, with many important scientists continuing to work in their chosen fields. A small number of fields, like experimental embryology, came to halt, but most areas continued on. Funding for biology research rose significantly during the Nazi period. While Hitler was personally hostile towards science, many important members of the Nazi hierarchy were enthusiastic about science, including biology. Deichmann provides a series of excellent summaries of work done during the Nazi period. She shows also how quite a few biologists were enmeshed in some of the most horrible aspects of the Nazi regime. Deichmann devotes considerable effort to discussing the effects of the Nazi period on the post-war performance of German biology. In particular, why didn't German biologists contribute to the genesis of molecular biology? This issue is discussed also by Muller-Hill in a preface to the main text. Deichmann and Muller-Hill suggest that the answer is multifactorial including the effects of the devastated German economy, the loss of talented exiled scientists, and especially the intellectual isolation of German biologists after the war. I can't disagree strongly with this analysis though I suspect that Deichmann and Muller-Hill underestimate the effects of the physical impact of the war. During the 1950s, while Germany was rebuilding itself from wasteland, American Universities were beginning the enormous expansion that would lead to the creation of the largest research establishment in human history.
This book is written clearly though there are probably some minor translation errors.
Recommended strongly.