Biography:Gunther Stent

Short description: American biologist (1924–2008)

Gunther Stent
E. Lederberg, G. Stent, S. Brenner, J. Lederberg, 1965
Born	Berlin, Germany
Died	June 12, 2008(2008-06-12) (aged 84) Haverford, Pennsylvania, US
Alma mater	University of Illinois
Scientific career
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley

Gunther S. Stent (March 28, 1924 – June 12, 2008) was a graduate professor of molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley. An early bacteriophage biologist, he was known also for his studies on the metabolism of bacteria and neurobiology of leeches, and for his writing on the history and philosophy of biology.

Life and career

He was born Günter Siegmund Stensch in Berlin, Germany. His surname was changed following his emigration to the US in 1940, where he went to live in Chicago. He received his BS (1945) and PhD (1948) from the University of Illinois.

In 1949, Stent joined the so-called phage group that coalesced around Max Delbrück at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. This was the incubator for many of the fundamental ideas of the newly emerging science of molecular biology. Informal discussions among these workers on the progress of their research led to a book by Stent, entitled Molecular Biology of Bacterial Viruses (dedicated to Delbrück), which was an account of the state of accomplishments in the field up to 1963. Later, in his memoirs,

His introductory textbook Molecular Genetics: an Introductory Narrative has been translated into Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.

He was also known for his works on the progress of science, especially his 1969 lectures at Berkeley, published as The Coming of the Golden Age.

Stent was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the United States National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

He died of pneumonia on June 12, 2008, at the age of 84.

Publications

Molecular biology

• Stent, G. S. – Molecular Biology of Bacterial Viruses. WH Freeman and Co., San Francisco, CA. OCLC 268815 (1963)
• Stent, G. S. – Molecular Genetics: an Introductory Narrative. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman (1971)
  • Italian translation: Stent, G. S., & Stent, G. S. – Genetica molecolare. Bologna, Italy: Zanichelli (1977)
  • Russian translation: Stent, G. S., Calendar, R., & Stent, G. S. – Molekuli︠a︡rnai︠a︡ genetika. Moskva: Izd-vo MIR (1981)
  • Spanish translation: Stent, G. S. – Genética molecular. Barcelona: Omega (1981)
  • Japanese translation: Stent, G. S., Calendar, R., & Nagano, K. – 分子遺伝学. Bunshi idengaku 岩波書店 (1983)
• Muller, K. J., Nicholls, J. G., & Stent, G. S. – Neurobiology of the Leech. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1981)
• Stent, G. S. – Nazis, Women, and Molecular Biology: Memoirs of a Lucky Self-hater. Kensington, Calif: Briones Books (1998)

Philosophy of science

• Stent, G. S. – The coming of the Golden Age: A View of the End of Progress. Garden City, N.Y.: Published for the American Museum of Natural History [by] the Natural History Press (1969)
  • French translation: Stent, G. S., & Bourdet, C. – L'Avènement de l'âge d'or. L'humanité au carrefour de son évolution [Paris]: Fayard (1973)
• Stent, G. S. – Paradoxes of progress. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman (1978)
  • Spanish translation: Stent, G. S. – Las paradojas del progreso. Barcelona: Salvat (1986)
• Stent, G. S. – Morality As a Biological Phenomenon: The Pre-suppositions of Sociobiological Research. Berkeley: University of California Press (1980)
• Stent, G. S., & Ogawa, M. – 真理>と悟り: 科学の形而上学と東洋哲学 Shinri to satori kagaku no keijijōgaku to tōyō tetsugaku. 朝日出版社, Tōkyō: Asahishuppansha (1981)
• Delbrück, M., & Stent, G. S. – Mind from matter? An Essay on Evolutionary Epistemology. Palo Alto, Calif: Blackwell Scientific Publications (1986)
  • German translation: Delbrück, M., Fischer, E. P., & Stent, G. S. – Wahrheit und Wirklichkeit über die Evolution des Erkennens. Hamburg: Rasch und Röhring Verlag (1986)
  • Spanish translation: Delbrück, M., Stent, S. G., & Casadesús, J. – Mente y materia ensayo de epistemología evolutiva. Alianza Universidad, 616. Madrid: Alianza (1989)
• Stent, G. S. – "Paradoxes of free will". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, v. 92, pt. 6. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society (2002)

Books edited

• Cairns, J., G. Stent, and J. D. Watson – Phage and the Origins of Molecular Biology. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY. OCLC 712215 (1966)
  • German translation: Cairns, J., Geissler, E., Stent, G. S., Thomas-Petersein, G., & Watson, J. D. – Phagen und die Entwicklung der Molekularbiologie Hrsg. v. John Cairns (1972)
• Stent, G. S. – Morality As a Biological Phenomenon: Report of the Dahlem Workshop on Biology and Morals, Berlin 1977, November 28 to December 2. Life Sciences Research Report, 9. Berlin: Dahlem Konferenzen (1978)
• Watson, J. D., & Stent, G. S. – The Double Helix: a Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. New York: Norton (1980)
• Cairns, J., G. Stent, and J. D. Watson – Phage and the Origins of Molecular Biology (expanded edition). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY. OCLC 25872929 (1992)
• John Cairns, G. Stent, and J. D. Watson, eds. – Phage and the Origins of Molecular Biology (40th anniversary edition). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, ISBN:0-87969-800-4 (2007)

Further reading

• Elvee, R. Q. – The End of Science? Attack and Defense. Lanham, Md: University Press of America (1992)

External links

• Guide to the Gunther S. Stent Papers at the Bancroft Library
• Samuel H. Barondes, Gunther S. Stent, Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2011)
• In Memoriam: Gunther S. Stent