From the ether…
In today's blog we discuss two themes: serendipity and ownership of knowledge. The photo might be a little misleading since the focus is on the story of ether and not a digital currency etherum - but how to portray ether? I hope you will enjoy this story!
The story of anaesthetics is long and complicated. In the 19th century, when medicine and dentistry was developing quickly, the western world did not know an effective way to ease the pain during tooth removal or surgeries. That was until two people independently discovered the anaesthetic properties of two substances: nitrous oxide and ether. Both were used previously as a “party drug” for brief euphoria and relaxation. However, in 1844 Horace Wells attended a public demonstration of nitrous oxide where one of participants injured himself and felt no pain, he realised that he could use the gas in his dental surgery as an anaesthetic. However, he couldn’t demonstrate the effectiveness of his discovery. A similar story can be told of the surgeon Crawford W. Long who discovered the anaesthetic properties of ether during an ether party. He used the gas for the first time in 1942 during a tumour removal but did not publish the results of his discovery until years later. It is likely that they were not the first to notice the anaesthetic properties of these substances, but their education and experiences allowed Long and Wells to understand it and use it in their practices. But this is not the end of the story. Since Long and Wells did not publish their discoveries, it is William T. G. Morton who is often regarded as the father of the modern anaesthetic, who used ether in a successful painless surgery in 1846. In the conflict over the credit of the first use of anaesthesia, Morton’s former professor Charles Jackson also claimed he deserves to be credited since it was he who suggested the use of ether to Morton (Winters, 2016).
Discussion questions:
1. What role does serendipity play in the production of knowledge?
2. Is serendipity enough to produce knowledge, or are there additional requirements?
3. Who owns knowledge?
Commentary:
Serendipity (accidental discovery) is often a spark that leads of discovery of a new phenomenon in the sciences. However, it is rare that serendipity is the whole story when it comes to knowledge production. As we see from the history of anaesthesia, serendipity provides the initial incentive, but without the application of education and experience it remains an interesting phenomenon, ending up more as a curiosity than an established piece of knowledge that can be exploited for useful purposes. In the case of nitrous oxide and ether, the expertise of Wells and Long allowed them to transform a party drug into a useful tool in medicine. It also required further experimentation, replication, demonstration, and peer review to become widely accepted as scientific knowledge and accorded a place in the standard methods of medicine.
The credit conflict between Wells, Long, Jackson, and Morton illustrates the tension between theory and practice as well as discovery, application and dissemination of knowledge. According to historical sources, it was Long who first used ether, yet Morton is most often credited as he was the first to publish his discovery. This leads us to the question of what criteria establish the ownership of knowledge. Does knowledge belong to the original discoverer who does it belong to those who describe it, systematise it, incorporate it into existing knowledge and procedures and disseminate it? I do not think I have a straightforward answer to this question. Jackson’s claim for credit also highlights the problem of theoretical vs practical use of knowledge. What is more, both substances were used as party drugs previously, and doubtless their anaesthetic properties were known, so what exactly was the discovery made by the medics? Independent of who you take to be the ‘discoverer’, the contribution made by Wells, Jackson, Long, or Morton seems to be more about the systematic use of these substances in a new context than a discovery of an entirely new phenomenon. All of which shows us just how complicated the question of ownership of knowledge is!
Winters, R. W. (2016). Accidental Medical Discoveries: How Tenacity and Pure Dumb Luck Changed the World. Skyhorse Publishing.