Nicolas Rasmussen

Nicolas "Nic" Rasmussen (1962—) is a historian of modern life sciences, and a Professor in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales.

With major interests in the history of amphetamines, the history of drug abuse, and the history of clinical trials, he has higher degrees in history and philosophy of science, developmental biology, and public health.

Born in Paris in 1962 of American parents — computer scientist Norman L. Rasmussen (1928—2003), later director of IBM’s Cambridge Scientific Center, and an important contributor to the development of time-sharing operating systems, and Laura Sootin Rasmussen (1933—), later an organizer and officer of the National Organization for Women in New England — he attended the Roxbury Latin School, near Boston, in Massachusetts.

Having worked in biology research labs since his early teens, Rasmussen's undergraduate exposure to art history and theory spurred an interest in history and philosophy of science; and, as a consequence, he enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Philosophy at the University of Chicago to pursue this field. He worked there with William Wimsatt for two years; and, after taking a master's degree, he went on to Cambridge University to study history of biology with Nick Jardine in the M.Phil. program in History and Philosophy of Science.

Then, in 1987 he took up a Ph.D. scholarship in Biological Sciences at Stanford University; and, while pursuing doctoral research in plant developmental biology under Paul B. Green, he also continued working in history of science with Tim Lenoir.

In 2007, to allow him to become more involved in health policy scholarship, he took a master's degree in Public Health at University of Sydney Medical School.

After postdoctoral training in history of science at Stanford and Harvard — and short term teaching positions in the field at Princeton and UCLA — he moved to a teaching position in history and philosophy of science at Sydney University (1994—1997) and, then, to the University of New South Wales in Sydney, where he is now a Professor.

His research has dealt with the role of instrumentation in shaping scientific knowledge; the history of biotechnology, molecular biology and its cultural and intellectual history; the history of drug abuse and pharmaceuticals in the United States since 1900; and the influence of industry sponsorship on biomedical research.

He is best known for his focus on the ways in which experimental methods and technology can shape research disciplines, sociologically and intellectually, and on the related role of patronage in shaping scientific fields in the mid-20th century USA. He has been principal investigator on several National Science Foundation (US) and Australian Research Council grants.

His first book, Picture Control: The Electron Microscope and the Transformation of Biology in America, 1940-1960 (1998), won both the Paul Bunge Prize for 1999, and the Forum for the History of Science in America's Book Prize for 2000.

His second book, On Speed: The Many Lives of Amphetamine (2008), is a widely cited history of the amphetamines in medicine and American culture.

His third book, Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise (2014), was shortlisted in the "basis of medicine category" of the 2015 British Medical Association’s Medical Book Awards, and was highly commended by the judging panel.