Building the History of Australian Science: Five Projects of Professor R.W. Home (1980–present)

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Maroske ◽  
Libby Robin ◽  
Gavan McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Web Resource ◽  
History Of ◽  
Australian Science ◽  
The University ◽  
Widespread Dissemination

R. W. Home was appointed the first and, up to 2016, the only Professor of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) at the University of Melbourne. A pioneering researcher in the history of Australian science, Rod believes in both the importance and universality of scientific knowledge, which has led him to focus on the international dimensions of Australian science, and on a widespread dissemination of its history. This background has shaped five major projects Rod has overseen or fostered: the Australasian Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (a monograph series), Historical Records of Australian Science (a journal), the Australian Science Archives Project (now a cultural informatics research centre), the Australian Encyclopedia of Science (a web resource), and the Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller Project (an archive, series of publications and a forthcoming web resource). In this review, we outline the development of these projects (all still active), and reflect on their success in collecting, producing and communicating the history of science in Australia.

scholarly journals The Origins of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Enros
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Programs Of Study ◽  
The University ◽  
Phd Programs

An effort to establish programs of study in the history of science took place at the University of Toronto in the 1960s. Initial discussions began in 1963. Four years later, the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology was created. By the end of 1969 the Institute was enrolling students in new MA and PhD programs. This activity involved the interaction of the newly emerging discipline of the history of science, the practices of the University, and the perspectives of Toronto’s faculty. The story of its origins adds to our understanding of how the discipline of the history of science was institutionalized in the 1960s, as well as how new programs were formed at that time at the University of Toronto.

A Priori in the Philosophy of Science

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-74
Author(s):  
Tatiana D. Sokolova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Technical Difficulty ◽  
Scientific Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Model Approach

The article is devoted to the analysis of research approaches and attitudes to the study of the a priori in the philosophy of science. In the first part, I outline the basic premises of this study: (a) scientific knowledge as the highest manifestation of rationality; (b) the normative nature of scientific knowledge. In the second part, I turn to the difference in the subject of philosophical research on the history of science – the history of science as a “history of facts” vs the history of science as a history of scientific thought. The third part discusses the main theoretical and technical difficulty associated with changing the subject of research – the possibility of a transition from historical fact to “scientific thought at the time of its birth” (in Helene Metzger terminology). The forth part is devoted to the analysis of the “model approach” (Arianna Betti, Hein van den Berg) in philosophy as a possible way to overcome this difficulty and includes both theoretical and technical aspects of the future direction of research. In conclusion, consequences are drawn about the possibility of using the “model approach” for reconstruction a priori in the history of science as “constitutive elements of scientific knowledge” (David Stump).

scholarly journals O episódio histórico das teorias do flogisto e calórico: criando interfaces entre a História e Filosofia da Ciência e o Ensino de Química na busca pela humanização do trabalho científico.c

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 153-180
Author(s):  
Letícia Do Prado ◽  
Marcelo Carbone Carneiro
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Phlogiston Theory ◽  
Chemistry Teaching ◽  
The Real ◽  
Historical Episode ◽  
History Of ◽  
Caloric Theory

ResumoA análise de episódios da história da ciência pode ser usada como uma estratégia didática que promove a superação de visões descontextualizadas da ciência. Permitindo que os alunos vivenciem a construção do conhecimento científico e percebam que eles não são feitos a partir de lampejos de genialidade ou de maneira isolada. Tornando-se impossível elencar apenas um indivíduo para representar a formulação de uma lei ou teoria. Neste trabalho nosso objetivo é apresentar a contribuição de Lavoisier no episódio histórico sobre o abandono da teoria do flogisto e ascensão da teoria do calórico, salientando a importância dada a experimentação no século XVII e XVIII e buscando com isto nos livrar de narrativas anedóticas, descontextualizadas e elitistas ainda presentes no Ensino de Química que colocam este personagem como pai da química moderna.Palavras-chave: História e Filosofia da Ciência; Ensino de Química; Lavoisier.AbstractThe analysis of episodes of the history of science can be used as a didactic strategy that promotes the overcoming of decontextualized visions of science. This makes the students experience the construction of scientific knowledge and realize that they are not made from glimpses of genius or in an isolated way, being impossible to list only an individual to represent the formulation of a law or theory. In this work, our objective is to present the real contribution of Lavoisier in the historical episode about the phlogiston theory abandonment and the rise of the caloric theory. From this, it is possible to stress the importance given to experimentation during the 17th and 18th century, seeking to get rid of anecdotal, decontextualized and elitist narratives that are still present in the Teaching of Chemistry that put this personage like father of the modern chemistry.Keywords: History and Philosophy of Science; Chemistry teaching; Lavoisier.

A NOTE ON INNOVATION AND JUSTIFICATION

1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-110
Author(s):  
Vincent Fella Hendricks ◽  
Stig Andur Pedersen
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Different Types ◽  
History Of

Within epistemology and the philosophy of science there is, in a number of cases, an a-symmetrical relation or even complementarity between innovation and justification. Innovations are not always justifiable, within the currently accepted body of scientific knowledge and readily justifiable innovations are seldom too interesting. This paper describes some such cases drawn from the history of science and attempts to classify different types of innovations.

scholarly journals William Whewell, F. R. S. (1794-1866)

1964 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-191 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Trinity College ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Academic Life ◽  
Academic History ◽  
Intellectual Achievement ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

I. Academic life. By R. Robson II. Contributions to science and learning. By Walter F. Cannon [Plates 19 TO 22] I. Academic life By R. Robson Fellow oj Trinity College, Cambridge A S the centenary of his death approaches there are signs that the oblivion which overcame Whewell so soon after it is being dispelled. The increasing concern of scholars with the history and philosophy of science has naturally led some of them to an interest in one of their distinguished predecessors, and those who study the history of science in Whewell’s lifetime have sometimes seen him at the centre of what Dr Cannon has called a ‘network’ of Cambridge scientists. Some day these men may loom as large in the intellectual history of nineteenth-century England as Oxford theologians do now, and it may not be too bold to claim that in the academic history of the period the Master of Trinity should command equal attention with the Master of Balliol. But to how many of those acquainted with Jowett’s career is even the name of Whewell familiar? Whewell’s benefactions to Trinity and to Cambridge have, of course, kept his name at least in memory there, but he was widely known outside the University in his lifetime and has claims on the interest of those outside it even now. In the second part of this article Dr Cannon will discuss Whewell’s intellectual achievement. By way of introduction a brief account will now be given of Whewell’s academic career. Whewell came up to Trinity in 1812 as a sub-sizar, ‘a tall, ungainly youth, with grey worsted stockings and country made shoes’.

Welcome and introduction

1989 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-96
Keyword(s):  
Advisory Committee ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Imperial College ◽  
Joint Meeting ◽  
Emeritus Professor ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

It is my pleasant duty to welcome you all most warmly to this meeting, which is one of the many events stimulated by the advisory committee of the William and Mary Trust on Science and Technology and Medicine, under the Chairmanship of Sir Arnold Burgen, the immediate past Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society. This is a joint meeting of the Royal Society and the British Academy, whose President, Sir Randolph Quirk, will be Chairman this afternoon, and it covers Science and Civilization under William and Mary, presumably with the intention that the Society would cover Science if the Academy would cover Civilization. The meeting has been organized by Professor Rupert Hall, a Fellow of the Academy and also well known to the Society, who is now Emeritus Professor of the History of Science and Technology at Imperial College in the University of London; and Mr Norman Robinson, who retired in 1988 as Librarian to the Royal Society after 40 years service to the Society.

What is a scientific instrument, now?

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liba Taub
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Smithsonian Institution ◽  
Scientific Instrument ◽  
Scientific Instruments ◽  
Classic Article ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of

Abstract In 1990, Deborah Jean Warner, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution, published her now-classic article ‘What is a scientific instrument, when did it become one, and why?’. These questions were prompted by practical curatorial considerations: what was she supposed to collect for her museum? Today, we are still considering questions of what we collect for the future, why, and how. These questions have elicited some new and perhaps surprising answers since the publication of Warner’s article, sometimes – but not only – as a reflection of changing technologies and laboratory practices, and also as a result of changes in those disciplines that study science, including history of science and philosophy of science. In focusing attention on meanings associated with scientific instrument collections, and thinking about what objects are identified as scientific instruments, I consider how definitions of instruments influence what is collected and preserved.

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