Description
Book SynopsisThe Wiley Blackwell Companion to the History of Science is a single volume companion that discusses the history of science as it is done today, providing a survey of the debates and issues that dominate current scholarly discussion, with contributions from leading international scholars.
Trade Review"Bernard Lightman has assembled a superb roster of many of the leading figures in their respective specialisms. [The] Companion is organized around analytical catagories...[which] enables [it] to address current issues such as identity, practice, the movement of knowledge, and material culture from a number of different perspectives that, helpfully, are often mutually illuminating. Although the individual chapters...are uniformly excellent, the Companion to the History of Science, when read as a whole or even section by section, really is more than the sum of its parts." - British Journal for the History of Science.
"Assembling a one-volume companion to the history of science across ages, scientific disciplines and global space is a particularly daunting task. The editor has approached this challenge in a somewhat unconventional way.... This thematic approach is a successful and innovative way of providing an overview of the key literature and current debates in the history of science. ...stimulating and informative...individual contributions are well suited for inclusion in undergraduate courses. The volume is very ambitious in terms of geographical scope...[which] sets [it] apart from other available introductions to the history of science. Admirably, it includes science and ways of studying nature in many different parts of the world through history. As a whole, the companion presents a highly commendable state-of-the-art view on the history of science. [Presenting] the richness of a thriving academic field...as an introduction to the history of science informed by cultural history and cultural theory, a better introduction is difficult to come by." - Notes and Records of the Royal Society
"The book will serve well in an introductory graduate seminar and as a starting point for undergraduate research. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; faculty and professionals." - Choice
"A valiant effort to condense in a single (large) book such an extremely diverse subject as the history of science." - The Sun News Miami
"In time this book will become a snapshot of early twenty-first-century historiography of science. It is all the more useful because of its clearly articulated approach. These essays will remain a valuable resource for many years to come." - Annals of Science
"All in all, this is a magnificent collection of essays that would be extremely useful and informative to those science educators who have no formal training in history of science, but who nevertheless use, or want to use, history of science in their work." - Science and Education
Table of ContentsAbout the Editor viii
About the Contributors ix
Acknowledgements xvi
Introduction 1
Bernard Lightman
1 Historiography of the History of Science 7
Lynn K. Nyhart
PART I ROLES 23
2 Learned Man and Woman in Antiquity and the Middle Ages 25
Nathan Sidoli
3 Go-Betweens, Travelers, and Cultural Translators 39
Kapil Raj
4 The Alchemist 58
Tara Nummedal
5 The Natural Philosopher 71
Peter Dear
6 The Natural Historian 84
Kristin Johnson
7 Invisible Technicians, Instrument Makers, and Artisans 97
Iwan Rhys Morus
8 Scientific illustrators 111
Valérie Chansigaud
9 The Human Experimental Subject 126
Anita Guerrini
10 Amateurs 139
Katherine Pandora
11 The Man of Science 153
Paul White
12 The Professional Scientist 164
Cyrus C. M. Mody
PART II PLACES AND SPACES 179
13 The Medieval University 181
Steven J. Livesey
14 The Observatory 196
Robert W. Smith
15 The Court 210
Bruce T. Moran
16 Academies and Societies 224
Denise Phillips
17 Museums and Botanical Gardens 238
Lukas Rieppel
18 Domestic Space 252
Donald L. Opitz
19 Commercial Science 268
Paul Lucier
20 The Field 282
Robert E. Kohler and Jeremy Vetter
21 The Laboratory 296
Catherine M. Jackson
22 Modern School and University 310
Heike Jöns
PART III COMMUNICATION 329
23 Manuscripts 331
Joyce van Leeuwen
24 The Printing Press 344
Nick Wilding
25 Correspondence Networks 358
Brian Ogilvie
26 Translations 372
Marwa Elshakry and Carla Nappi
27 Journals and Periodicals 387
Aileen Fyfe
28 Textbooks 400
Josep Simon
29 Lectures 414
Diarmid A. Finnegan
30 Film, Radio, and Television 428
David A. Kirby
PART IV TOOLS OF SCIENCE 443
31 Timing Devices 445
Rory McEvoy
32 Weights and Measures 459
Hector Vera
33 Calculating Devices and Computers 472
Matthew L. Jones
34 Specimens and Collections 488
Mary E. Sunderland
35 Recording Devices 500
Jimena Canales
36 Microscopes 515
Boris Jardine
37 Telescopes 530
Jim Bennett
38 Prisms, Spectroscopes, Spectrographs, and Gratings 543
Klaus Hentschel
39 Diagrams 557
Charlotte Bigg
40 Three Dimensional Models 572
Joshua Nall and Liba Taub
Index 587
