In the 1920s, scientists at the University of Cambridge’s Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry made major contributions to the emerging discipline of biochemistry while also devoting considerable time and energy to the production of a humor journal entitled Brighter Biochemistry. Although humor is frequently regarded as peripheral to the work of science, the journal provides an opportunity to understand how it contributes to the social infrastructure of scientific communities as modern workplaces. Taking methodological cues from cultural history, ethnography, and humor studies, this essay conducts a close and contextual reading of Brighter Biochemistry. This reading demonstrates how humor served as a central means through which members of the Dunn confronted workplace issues, including creating cooperative work teams, responding to gender discrimination, addressing funding anxiety, and defining professional identity. These conclusions provide a new perspective on the well-documented history of the Dunn and also offer a model for how historians of science can approach humor when its traces are encountered in other settings.

中文翻译：

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亮化生物化学：威廉·邓恩爵士生物化学研究所的幽默、身份和科学工作，1923-1931

1920 年代，剑桥大学威廉·邓恩爵士生物化学研究所的科学家们对新兴的生物化学学科做出了重大贡献，同时也投入了大量时间和精力制作了一本名为 Brighter Biochemistry 的幽默期刊。虽然幽默经常被认为是科学工作的外围，但该杂志提供了一个机会来了解它如何为现代工作场所的科学社区的社会基础设施做出贡献。本文从文化历史、民族志和幽默研究中汲取方法论线索，对 Brighter Biochemistry 进行了深入的背景阅读。这份阅读展示了幽默如何成为邓恩成员面对工作场所问题的核心手段，包括建立合作工作团队，应对性别歧视、解决资金焦虑和定义专业身份。这些结论提供了一个新的视角来看待邓恩家族的有据可查的历史，也为科学史学家在其他环境中遇到幽默时如何处理幽默提供了一个模型。