Positioning the History of Science (Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science Book 248)

The present volume, compiled in honor of an outstanding historian of science, physicist and exceptional human being, Sam Schweber, is unique in assembling a broad spectrum of positions on the history of science by some of its leading representatives. Readers will find it illuminating to learn how prominent authors judge the current status and the future perspectives of their field. Students will find this volume helpful as a guide in a fragmented field that continues to be dominated by idiosyncratic expertise and that still lacks a methodical canon. The essays were written in response to our invitation to explicate the views of the authors concerning the state of the history of science today and the issues we felt are related to its future. Although not all the scholars invited to write have contributed an essay, this volume can nevertheless be considered as a rather comprehensive survey of the present state of the history of science. All the papers collected here reflect in one way or another the strong influence Sam Schweber exerted during the past decades in his gentle way, on the history of science as well as on the lives of many of its protagonists worldwide. All who have had the opportunity of encountering him have benefited from his advice, benevolence, and friendship. Sam Schweber’s intellectual taste, his passion for knowledge, and his erudition are all encompassing. It, therefore, seemed fitting to honor him with a collection of essays of comparable breadth; nothing less would suffice. Big History?....Pages 1-5 Big History?....Pages 7-11 Suggestions for the Study of Science....Pages 13-25 For a History of Knowledge....Pages 27-32 Working in Parallel, Working Together....Pages 33-34 Challenges in Writing About Twentieth Century East Asian Physicists....Pages 35-38 Why Should Scientists Become Historians?....Pages 39-41 From the social to the moral to the spiritual: the postmodern exaltation of the history of science....Pages 43-48 Between Science and History....Pages 49-55 The Search for Autonomy in History of Science....Pages 57-60 Without Parallels?: Averting a Schweberian Dystopia....Pages 61-64 The Intellectual Strengths of Pluralism and Diversity....Pages 65-68 On Connoisseurship....Pages 69-71 Concerning Energy....Pages 73-76 Reflections on a Discipline....Pages 77-85 The Woman in Einstein’s Shadow....Pages 87-94 The Mutual Embrace: Institutions and Epistemology....Pages 95-98 History, Science, and History of Science....Pages 99-103 Parallel Lives and The History of Science....Pages 105-107 Discarding Dichotomies, Creating Community: Sam Schweber and Darwin Studies....Pages 109-112 Public Participation and Industrial Technoscience Today: The difficult question of accountability....Pages 113-118 The Character of Truth....Pages 119-133 Schweber, Physicist, Historian and Moral Example....Pages 135-137 What’s New in Science?....Pages 139-142 On The Road....Pages 143-148 Plutarchian Versus Socratic Scientific Biography....Pages 149-157 Problems Not Disciplines....Pages 159-162 Physicist-Historians....Pages 163-167 Letting the Scientists Back In....Pages 169-172 Science As History....Pages 173-176 Postscript....Pages 177-183 ....Pages 185-188

The present volume, compiled in honor of an outstanding historian of science, physicist and exceptional human being, Sam Schweber, is unique in assembling a broad spectrum of positions on the history of science by some of its leading representatives. Readers will find it illuminating to learn how prominent authors judge the current status and the future perspectives of their field. Students will find this volume helpful as a guide in a fragmented field that continues to be dominated by idiosyncratic expertise and that still lacks a methodical canon. The essays were written in response to our invitation to explicate the views of the authors concerning the state of the history of science today and the issues we felt are related to its future. Although not all of the scholars whom we asked to write have contributed an essay, this volume can nevertheless be considered as a rather comprehensive survey of the present state of the history of science. All of the papers collected here reflect in one way or another the strong influence Sam Schweber has exerted during the past decades in his gentle way, on the history of science as well as on the lives of many of its protagonists worldwide. All who have had the opportunity of encountering him have benefited from his advice, benevolence, and friendship. Sam Schweber’s intellectual taste, his passion for knowledge, and his erudition are all encompassing. It, therefore, seemed fitting to honor him with a collection of essays of comparable breadth; nothing less would suffice.

This volume, compiled in honor of Sam Schweber, an outstanding historian of science, physicist and exceptional human being, offers a comprehensive survey of the present state of the history of science. It collects essays written by leading representatives in the field. The essays examine the state of the history of science today and issues related to its future. Compiled in honor of an outstanding historian of science, physicist and exceptional human being, Sam Schweber, this book assembles a broad spectrum of positions on the history of science by some of its leading representatives. It presents a comprehensive survey reflecting the strong influence Sam Schweber has exerted on the history of science.