History of science and technology

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For historical accounts of the development of science, see History of science. For historical accounts of the development of technology, see History of technology. For approaches to the study of history of science and technology, see Historiography of science.

The history of science and technology (HST) is a field of history that examines the understanding of the natural world (science) and the ability to manipulate it (technology) at different points in time. This academic discipline also studies the cultural, economic, and political impacts of and contexts for scientific practices.

Academic study of history of science

See also: Historiography of science, History of technology, and History of mathematics

History of science is an academic discipline with an international community of specialists. Main professional organizations for this field include the History of Science Society, the British Society for the History of Science, and the European Society for the History of Science.

Much of the study of the history of science has been devoted to answering questions about what science is, how it functions, and whether it exhibits large-scale patterns and trends.<ref>What is this thing called science?. Hackett Pub. 1999. ISBN 978-0-87220-452-2.</ref>

History of the academic study of history of science

Histories of science were originally written by practicing and retired scientists,<ref>Reingold, Nathan (1986). "History of Science Today, 1. Uniformity as Hidden Diversity: History of Science in the United States, 1980-1960". British Journal for the History of Science. 19 (3): 243–262. doi:10.1017/S0007087400023268. S2CID 145350145.</ref> starting primarily with William Whewell's History of the Inductive Sciences (1837), as a way to communicate the virtues of science to the public.[citation needed]

Auguste Comte proposed that there should be a specific discipline to deal with the history of science.<ref>Bourdeau, Michel (2023). "Auguste Comte". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Retrieved 15 October 2023.</ref>

The development of the distinct academic discipline of the history of science and technology did not occur until the early 20th century.[citation needed] Historians have suggested that this was bound to the changing role of science during the same time period.[citation needed]

After World War I, extensive resources were put into teaching and researching the discipline, with the hopes that it would help the public better understand both Science and Technology as they came to play an exceedingly prominent role in the world.[citation needed]

In the decades since the end of World War II, history of science became an academic discipline, with graduate schools, research institutes, public and private patronage, peer-reviewed journals, and professional societies.[citation needed]

Formation of academic departments

In the United States, a more formal study of the history of science as an independent discipline was initiated by George Sarton's publications, Introduction to the History of Science (1927) and the journal Isis (founded in 1912).[citation needed] Sarton exemplified the early 20th-century view of the history of science as the history of great men and great ideas.[citation needed] He shared with many of his contemporaries a Whiggish belief in history as a record of the advances and delays in the march of progress.[citation needed]

The study of the history of science continued to be a small effort until the rise of Big Science after World War II.[citation needed] With the work of I. Bernard Cohen at Harvard, the history of science began to become an established subdiscipline of history in the United States.<ref>Dauben JW, Gleason ML, Smith GE (2009). "Seven Decades of History of Science". Isis. 100 (1): 4–35. doi:10.1086/597575. PMID 19554868. S2CID 31401544.</ref>

In the United States, the influential bureaucrat Vannevar Bush, and the president of Harvard, James Conant, both encouraged the study of the history of science as a way of improving general knowledge about how science worked, and why it was essential to maintain a large scientific workforce.[citation needed]

Universities with history of science and technology programs

Argentina

Australia

  • The University of Sydney offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the History and Philosophy of Science, run by the Unit for the History and Philosophy of Science, within the Science Faculty. Undergraduate coursework can be completed as part of either a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Undergraduate study can be furthered by completing an additional Honours year. For postgraduate study, the Unit offers both coursework and research-based degrees. The two course-work based postgraduate degrees are the Graduate Certificate in Science (HPS) and the Graduate Diploma in Science (HPS). The two research based postgraduate degrees are a Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).<ref>The University of Sydney. "History and Philosophy of Science". Retrieved December 3, 2009.</ref>

Belgium

  • University of Liège, has a Department called Centre d'histoire des Sciences et Techniques.<ref>Université de Liège. "CHST". Archived from the original on February 5, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2010.</ref>

Canada

France

Germany

Greece

India

History of science and technology is a well-developed field in India. At least three generations of scholars can be identified. The first generation includes D.D.Kosambi, Dharmpal, Debiprasad Chattopadhyay and Rahman. The second generation mainly consists of Ashis Nandy, Deepak Kumar, Dhruv Raina, S. Irfan Habib, Shiv Visvanathan, Gyan Prakash, Stan Lourdswamy, V.V. Krishna, Itty Abraham, Richard Grove, Kavita Philip, Mira Nanda and Rob Anderson. There is an emergent third generation that includes scholars like Abha Sur and Jahnavi Phalkey.<ref>Rao, Mohit M (November 6, 2021). ""'Access to science is what every society needs': Jahnavi Phalkey"". The Hindu. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.</ref>

Departments and Programmes

The National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies had a research group active in the 1990s which consolidated social history of science as a field of research in India. Currently there are several institutes and university departments offering HST programmes.

  • Jawaharlal Nehru University has an Mphil-PhD program that offer specialisation in Social History of Science. It is at the History of Science and Education group of the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies (ZHCES) in the School of Social Sciences. Renowned Indian science historians Deepak Kumar and Dhruv Raina teach here. Also, *Centre for Studies in Science Policy has an Mphil-PhD program that offers specialization in Science, Technology, and Society along with various allied subdisciplines.
  • Central University of Gujarat has an MPhil-PhD programme in Studies in Science, Technology & Innovation Policy at the Centre for Studies in Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (CSSTIP), where Social History of Science and Technology in India is a major emphasis for research and teaching.
  • Banaras Hindu University has programs: one in History of Science and Technology at the Faculty of Science and one in Historical and Comparative Studies of the Sciences and the Humanities at the Faculty of Humanities.
  • Andhra University has now set History of Science and Technology as a compulsory subject for all the First year B-Tech students.

Israel

Japan

Netherlands

Poland

Russia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United States

Academic study of the history of science as an independent discipline was launched by George Sarton at Harvard with his book Introduction to the History of Science (1927) and the Isis journal (founded in 1912). Sarton exemplified the early 20th century view of the history of science as the history of great men and great ideas. He shared with many of his contemporaries a Whiggish belief in history as a record of the advances and delays in the march of progress. The History of Science was not a recognized subfield of American history in this period, and most of the work was carried out by interested Scientists and Physicians rather than professional Historians.<ref>Nathan Reingold, "History of Science Today, 1. Uniformity as Hidden Diversity: History of Science in the United States, 1920–1940," British Journal for the History of Science 1986 19(3): 243–262</ref> With the work of I. Bernard Cohen at Harvard, the history of Science became an established subdiscipline of history after 1945.<ref>Dauben, JW; Gleason, ML; Smith, GE (2009). "Seven decades of history of science: I. Bernard Cohen (1914–2003), second editor of Isis". Isis; an International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences. 100 (1): 4–35. doi:10.1086/597575. PMID 19554868. S2CID 31401544.</ref>

Prominent historians of the field

See also the list of George Sarton medalists.

Journals and periodicals

See also

Professional societies

References

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Bibliography

Historiography of science

  • H. Floris Cohen, The Scientific Revolution: A Historiographical Inquiry, University of Chicago Press 1994 – Discussion on the origins of modern science has been going on for more than two hundred years. Cohen provides an excellent overview.
  • Ernst Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought, Belknap Press 1985
  • Michel Serres,(ed.), A History of Scientific Thought, Blackwell Publishers 1995
  • Companion to Science in the Twentieth Century, John Krige (Editor), Dominique Pestre (Editor), Taylor & Francis 2003, 941pp
  • The Cambridge History of Science, Cambridge University Press
    • Volume 4, Eighteenth-Century Science, 2003
    • Volume 5, The Modern Physical and Mathematical Sciences, 2002

History of science as a discipline

  • J. A. Bennett, 'Museums and the Establishment of the History of Science at Oxford and Cambridge', British Journal for the History of Science 30, 1997, 29–46
  • Dietrich von Engelhardt, Historisches Bewußtsein in der Naturwissenschaft : von der Aufklärung bis zum Positivismus, Freiburg [u.a.] : Alber, 1979
  • A.-K. Mayer, 'Setting up a Discipline: Conflicting Agendas of the Cambridge History of Science Committee, 1936–1950.' Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 31, 2000
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