The teaching of engineering and a change in liberal arts curricula, both stimulated by industrial growth, encouraged the creation of specialized courses in the sciences. By the 1890s, Gingras argues, trained researchers had begun to appear in Canadian universities. The technological demands of the First World War and the founding, in 1916, of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) accelerated the growth of scientific research. The Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada could no longer publish everything submitted to it because of the disproportionately large number of research papers from the fields of science. In response, the NRC created the Canadian Journal of Research, a journal specifically dedicated to the publication of scientific research. By 1930, a stable, national system of scientific research was in place in Canada. Following the dramatic increase in the national importance of their disciplines, scientists faced the problem of social identity. Gingras demonstrates that in the case of physics this took the form of a conflict between those who promoted a professional orientation, necessary to compete successfully with engineers in the labour market, and those, mainly in the universities, who were concerned with problems of the discipline such as publication, internal management, and awards. Physics and the Rise of Scientific Research in Canada is the first book to provide a general analysis of the origins of scientific research in Canadian universities. Gingras proposes a sociological model of the formation of scientific disciplines, distinguishing the profession from the discipline, two notions often confused by historians and sociologists of science.

Yves Gingras is Professor and Canada Research Chair in History and Sociology of Science, Department of History, at Université du Qué bec à Montré al.

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"gives us a fresh perspective on the meaning of 'professionalization', and shows clearly the transition from physics as part of a liberal education to modern physics in both its 'pure' and applied aspects." R.A. Jarrell, Chair, Department of Science Studies, Atkinson College, York University. "a welcome Canadian dimension to the growing international literature on the emergence (or re-making) of modern scientific communities. It will facilitate comparative studies and serve as a reference point for future work on other disciplines in Canada." James Hull, Department of History, Okanagan College, and Editor, Scientia Canadensis.

"gives us a fresh perspective on the meaning of 'professionalization', and shows clearly the transition from physics as part of a liberal education to modern physics in both its 'pure' and applied aspects." R.A. Jarrell, Chair, Department of Science Studies, Atkinson College, York University.
"a welcome Canadian dimension to the growing international literature on the emergence (or re-making) of modern scientific communities. It will facilitate comparative studies and serve as a reference point for future work on other disciplines in Canada." James Hull, Department of History, Okanagan College, and Editor, Scientia Canadensis.