Nelkin, Dorothy (Wolfers) 1933-2003
NELKIN, Dorothy (Wolfers) 1933-2003
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born July 30, 1933, in Boston, MA; died of cancer May 28, 2003, in New York, NY. Sociologist, educator, and author. Nelkin was a noted writer who focused on the way advances in science affect the public and in her books tried to bring scientific progress into perspective for the lay reader. A graduate of Cornell University, where she earned her B.A. in sociology in 1954, she began her career as a research associate at her alma mater in 1963. Though she did not have a master's or doctorate degree, she successfully moved up the ranks to associate professor in 1972 and full professor in 1977; in 1990 she accepted a post as university professor of sociology and affiliated professor of law at New York University. Nelkin combined her training in sociology with her personal interest in science and technology to write such books as Science as Intellectual Property (1983), Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology (1987; second edition, 1995), Dangerous Diagnostics: The Social Power of Biological Information (1989; second edition, 1994), and Body Bazaar: The Market for Body Tissue in the Biotechnology Age (2001).
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PERIODICALS
New York Times, June 2, 2003, p. A16.