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Article: Escaping the Laboratory: the rodent experiments of John B. Calhoun & their cultural influence.(SECTION IV SCIENCE IN SOCIAL HISTORY)(Report)
- Article from:
- Journal of Social History
- Article date:
- March 22, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Journal of Social History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
In 1947, John B. Calhoun's neighbor agreed to let him build a rat enclosure on disused woodland behind his house in Towson, Maryland. Calhoun would later reflect that his neighbor probably expected a few hutches, perhaps a small run. What Calhoun built was quarter acre pen, what he called a "garden of eden," and, as the population expanded from a few individuals to many, a "rat city." Calhoun calculated that the habitat was sufficient to accommodate as many as 5000 rats. Instead, the population levelled off at 150, and throughout the two years Calhoun kept watch, never exceeded 200. That the predicated maximum was never reached ought to come as no ...