Mr. Spock = Dr. Spock ?

[Chindogu]

Spock is the Science Officer, and thus a Scientist; should it not fall to reason that he also has a PhD? So shouldn't Kirk have been calling him Dr. Spock and not Mr. Spock?




P.S. I like that Spock is in my Spell Check dictionary.

 

[Armored Saint]

1- Spock was a generalist, not a specialist.
2- Spock was a Starfleet officer at first and then a scientist. That caused the clash between him and Sarek.
3- Except Ann Mulhall, most of the other scientists didn't seem to have a PhD.

 

[Melakon]

At the time that Star Trek originally aired, there was a well known, real life Dr. Spock, who was a pediatrician and protestor during the Viet Nam war. Roddenberry claimed never to have heard of him. There's a photo somewhere of Leonard Nimoy in makeup holding a newspaper whose headline says something like "Spock Gets Jail Term, Fine".

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm sure Spock had a specialty. Probably in computer sciences and/or physics. He may have a PhD, but as First Officer he's Mr. Spock or Commander Spock to his subordinates. Any papers he might author would probably be attributed to "Dr. Spock".

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Not being a military specialist I could be wrong here, but aren't officers with doctorates addressed by the rank and not their title? So even if Spock had PhD's in astrophysics, computer science, and comparative xenobiology, he would still be addressed as "Commander" (with "Mister" being a more casual way of address) rather than Doctor.

I could be wrong about that.

 

[Chindogu]

Of course! His rank would out weight a doctorate. I should have thought of that.

Now I wonder what books he did write. As someone interested in research as much as Spock, you'd think we would have written many.

 

[Nebusj]

Not being a military specialist I could be wrong here, but aren't officers with doctorates addressed by the rank and not their title? So even if Spock had PhD's in astrophysics, computer science, and comparative xenobiology, he would still be addressed as "Commander" (with "Mister" being a more casual way of address) rather than Doctor.

I could be wrong about that.

Possibly more important is that the current American cultural convention is to generally not mention a person's academic credentials except when speaking of them in an academic-professional context. You can read a good history of the Space Race, for example, with Buzz Aldrin's ScD being mentioned only if the author wants to explain why he had the nickname of ``Doctor Rendezvous''.

Of course, this is all making the assumption that Spock has got a doctorate; is there evidence for this beyond the assumption that he knows a good deal of science, apparently, and can manage a science department satisfactorily?

(Wouldn't it be a kick of Spock has got a PhD, but it's, like, in Medieval Literature or something similarly characterized as 'useless', as though the point of a university were to be job training?)

 

[Melakon]

Spock rarely bragged about his academics, but would sometimes mention his Starfleet classification ratings in terms of computer science or security clearance. If his academic career was solely at Starfleet Academy, and then a ship assignment, he may not have even a bachelor's degree.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Of course! His rank would out weight a doctorate. I should have thought of that.

But as Armored Saint already pointed out, Ann Mulhall was referred to as "doctor" rather than "lieutenant commander" or "commander". I would probably make the assumption that Spock doesn't have a PhD. We know he never attended the Vulcan Science Academy... was he even at Starfleet Academy long enough to earn a PhD?

 

[Melakon]

It's possible Starfleet reserves the term Doctor for officers in medical and related sciences. Ann Mulhall was an astrobiologist. Helen Noel was called Doctor, and trained in psychiatry or psychology. Likewise with Dr. Dehner in "Where No Man has Gone Before".

Some exceptions are Richard Daystrom and Larry Marvick, but they seem to be civilians.

 

[scotpens]

At the time that Star Trek originally aired, there was a well known, real life Dr. Spock, who was a pediatrician and protestor during the Viet Nam war. Roddenberry claimed never to have heard of him.

Gene Roddenberry's daughters Darleen and Dawn were born in 1948 and 1953, respectively. Gene's claim that had never heard of Dr. Spock is a bit hard to swallow when you consider that in the 1950s and '60s, practically every American household with children had a copy of Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (first published in 1946).

 

[johnnybear]

It's one of those Frankenstein things I'd say! When we were kids in the playground we all called him Doctor Spock and much later someone said you can't have two Doctors on the show, McCoy was the Doctor and Spock was just Mister! Years later I could still hear the kids calling him Doctor Spock in the schools!
JB

 

[Push The Button]

If it is anything like Annapolis or West Point, four years at Starfleet Academy would earn you a bachelor of science and a Starfleet commission. I'm thinking Spock had earned multiple advanced degrees prior to his TOS Enterprise days. Vulcans just seem to be able to learn much faster than humans, as shown by Spock's childhood school days scene in ST2009 and his reeducation scene in TVH.

 

[Melakon]

Gene Roddenberry's daughters Darleen and Dawn were born in 1948 and 1953, respectively. Gene's claim that had never heard of Dr. Spock is a bit hard to swallow when you consider that in the 1950s and '60s, practically every American household with children had a copy of Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (first published in 1946).

That's why I think Roddenberry was spouting BS saying he'd never heard of him. I was seeing the books in paperback at the register in grocery stores before Trek was ever on the air. Kellam DeForest certainly must have brought it to his attention. He probably had heard the name, but forgot it, and thought he'd come up with an unusual name all on his own. I'm only two years older than Dawn, so he must have been aware of Benjamin Spock in some fashion; we didn't even have his books in the house.

Then again, Gene was sort of a strange guy.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

You guys are right. When Star Trek was being created, the baby doctor had been a household name for almost 20 years. But if GR did remember Benjamin Spock, I don't think he would have used the name. More likely, it was a case of cryptomnesia on Gene's part.

This is good:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_of7mShM5N1g/TULNGnjv4pI/AAAAAAAACj0/dSZIeHFkgNg/s1600/dr_spock_cartoon.jpg

 

[mb22]

http://trekkerscrapbook.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/v2-035a-b-complete.jpg

http://trekkerscrapbook.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/v2-035c1.jpg

I was born around a year before Trek premiered, and yes, my parents had a paperback Dr. Spock book.

 

[Armored Saint]

I never saw any picture of Doctor Spock before. He looked like Richard Derr.

Of course, this is all making the assumption that Spock has got a doctorate; is there evidence for this beyond the assumption that he knows a good deal of science, apparently, and can manage a science department satisfactorily?

Science officers in TOS were there as professionals, so I think most of them had a bachelor's or a master's degree.

Chekov was skilled enough to replace Spock at Science station, but he was clearly too young to have a PhD. (Of course, it's possible to be 22 and already having a PhD, but in this case, you're not simply an ensign on a Starship.)

So I see the Science officer as someone who has a pretty good general science knowledge and who's also a well-trained bridge officer.

 

[johnnybear]

Shame that a story was never written explaining how Spock went back to earth in the past and actually started the family of Dr.Benjamin Spock in the first place!
Any takers..?
JB

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Shame that a story was never written explaining how Spock went back to earth in the past and actually started the family of Dr. Benjamin Spock in the first place!
Any takers..?
JB

Leonard makes an appearance on The Carol Burnett Show.

I'd love to see it. I suspect Carol had a baby care question and said something like, "If only Doctor Spock were here."

 

[Chindogu]

It's one of those Frankenstein things I'd say! When we were kids in the playground we all called him Doctor Spock and much later someone said you can't have two Doctors on the show, McCoy was the Doctor and Spock was just Mister! Years later I could still hear the kids calling him Doctor Spock in the schools!
JB

+1