Men of Science: The British Association, Masculinity and the First World War

Abstract

This chapter examines the experience of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) during the Great War. By 1914 the BAAS had come to be seen as a shadow of its former self; consequently, engagement in the war through the application of scientific expertise allowed the BAAS and its members to advance the long-term cause of science and to promulgate a more masculine perception of scientists. This paper demonstrates the myriad and often complex reasons underpinning scholarly mobilization for war; it was not only (or even) a question of believing in the righteousness of the national cause, but in many cases it could be justified and understood as being in the best interests of associational and disciplinary vitality.