A history of science in society: from philosophy to utility PDF
Preview A history of science in society: from philosophy to utility
A History of Science in Society This page intentionally left blank A HISTORY of SCIENCE in SOCIETY From Philosophy to Utility Second Edition Andrew Ede and Lesley B. Cormack Copyright © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2012 Higher Education Division www.utppublishing.com All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without prior written consent of the publisher—or in the case of photocopying, a licence from Access Copyright (Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency), One Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E5—is an infringement of the copyright law. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Ede, Andrew A history of science in society : from philosophy to utility / by Andrew Ede and Lesley B. Cormack.—2nd ed. Includes bibliographical references and index. Also issued in electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-4426-0446-9 1. Science—History. 2. Science—Social aspects—History. I. Cormack, Lesley B., 1957– II. Title. Q125.E33 2012 509 C2011-908552-6 We welcome comments and suggestions regarding any aspect of our publications— please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or visit our Internet site at www.utppublishing.com. North America UK, Ireland, and continental Europe 5201 Dufferin Street NBN International North York, Ontario, Canada, M3H 5T8 Estover Road, Plymouth, PL6 7PY, UK orders phone: 44 (0) 1752 202301 2250 Military Road orders fax: 44 (0) 1752 202333 Tonawanda, New York, USA, 14150 orders e-mail: [email protected] orders phone: 1–800–565–9523 orders fax: 1–800–221–9985 orders e-mail: [email protected] Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders; in the event of an error or omission, please notify the publisher. The University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund. Typesetting: Em Dash Design Printed in Canada. Contents acknowledgements vii introduction ix 1 Th e Origins of Natural Philosophy 1 2 Th e Roman Era and the Rise of Islam 29 3 Th e Revival of Natural Philosophy in Western Europe 65 4 Science in the Renaissance: Th e Courtly Philosophers 91 5 Th e Scientific Revolution: Contested Territory 129 6 Th e Enlightenment and Enterprise 165 7 Science and Empire 203 8 Entering the Atomic Age 241 9 Science and War 271 10 Th e Death of Certainty 295 11 1957: Th e Year the World Became a Planet 323 12 Man on the Moon, Microwave in the Kitchen 349 13 New Frontiers: Science and Choice in the New Millennium 379 further reading 397 index 409 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements To Graham and Quin, who teach us about life—and who put up with two authors working in the house at the same time. We would also like to thank those people who helped make this book possible: our editor and publisher; friends and colleagues who read early drafts and gave advice; reviewers and users who have off ered helpful criticism and forced us to defend our position; and all the amazing historians of science on whose shoulders (or toes) we stand. This page intentionally left blank Introduction Science has transformed human history. It has changed how we see the universe, how we interact with nature and each other, and how we live our lives. It may, in the future, even change what it means to be human. Th e history of such a power- ful force deserves a full and multifaceted examination. Yet a history of science is unlike a history of monarchs, generals, steam engines, or wars because science isn’t a person, an object, or an event. It is an idea, the idea that humans can understand the physical world. Th is is a history of what happens when a legion of thinkers, at diff erent times and from diff erent backgrounds, turned their minds and hands to the investigation of nature. In the process, they transformed the world. Th e history of science is such a vast subject that no single book about it can really be comprehensive, and so the story we tell examines science from a particular point of view. Some histories of science have focused on the intellectual develop- ment of ideas, while others have traced the course of particular subjects such as astronomy or physics. In this book, we have chosen to look at science from two related perspectives that we believe off er a window onto the historical processes that shaped the study of nature. First, we have examined the link between the philosophical pursuit of knowledge and the desire of both the researchers and their supporters to make that knowledge useful. Th ere has always been a ten- sion between the intellectual aspects of science and the application of scientific knowledge. Th e ancient Greek philosophers struggled with this problem, and it is
The list of books you might like
