This article presents a case study of how American soil scientists encountered the increasing demands to prove the social utility of their scientific work in the first half of the twentieth century and how this influenced the professional rivalry and competition among them. Previous historical studies of agricultural science in the period have not overlooked the increasing demands for applicability that agricultural scientists were faced with at the time. However, in describing the response of agricultural scientists to these demands, research has focused on the content of their scientific work, that is, their methods, empirical interests, and theories. This study, by contrast, explores how the debates on applied vs. fundamental/basic research in American agricultural science were closely linked to the question of how scientific knowledge could be made understood to laymen and practitioners.

中文翻译：

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“简单、清晰、农民容易理解……”：美国土壤科学中的专家与外行交流，1920 年代至 50 年代

本文介绍了美国土壤科学家如何在 20 世纪上半叶遇到日益增长的证明其科学工作的社会效用的需求，以及这如何影响他们之间的专业竞争和竞争的案例研究。这一时期以前对农业科学的历史研究并没有忽视当时农业科学家面临的日益增长的适用性需求。然而，在描述农业科学家对这些需求的反应时，研究的重点是他们科学工作的内容，即他们的方法、经验兴趣和理论。相比之下，这项研究探讨了关于应用与应用的争论是如何进行的。