Making Natural Knowledge: Constructivism and the History of Science (Cambridge Studies in the History of Science) - Hardcover

Golinski, Jan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521444713 ISBN 13: 9780521444712

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Synopsis

In Making Natural Knowledge: Constructivism and the History of Science, Jan Golinski reviews recent writing on the history of science and shows how it has been dramatically reshaped by a new understanding of science itself. In the last few years, scientific knowledge has come to be seen as a product of human culture, an approach that has challenged the tradition of the history of science as a story of steady and autonomous progress. New topics have emerged in historical research, including: the identity of the scientist, the importance of the laboratory, the role of language and instruments, and the connections with other realms of culture and society. Golinski has written a sympathetic but critical survey of this exciting field of research, at a level that can be appreciated by students or anyone else who wants an introduction to contemporary thinking in the development of the sciences.

About this title

Book Description

This book reviews recent writing on the history of science and shows how it has been dramatically reshaped by a new understanding of science itself. In the last few years, scientific knowledge has come to be seen as a product of human culture. This new approach has challenged the tradition of the history of science as a story of steady and autonomous progress.

About the Author

Jan Golinski is professor of history and humanities at the University of New Hampshire. He is coeditor of The Sciences in Enlightened Europe, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521444713
• ISBN 13: 9780521444712
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 250