BOUNDARIES AND AUDIENCES OF NATIONAL HISTORIES OF SCIENCE: INSIGHTS FROM THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE NETHERLANDS

Nuncius ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERNST HOMBURG
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
History Of

BOUNDARIES AND AUDIENCES OF NATIONAL HISTORIES OF SCIENCE: INSIGHTS FROM THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE NETHERLANDS

Nuncius ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-345
Author(s):  
ERNST HOMBURG
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
History Of Technology ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Strongly Connected ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Research

Abstracttitle ABSTRACT /title The present paper traces the evolution of writing national-oriented histories of science and technology of the Netherlands. Several episodes are distinguished. A first wave of national histories of science and technology was written during the first decades of the 19th century. These histories had a wide scope, which included science, technology, the humanities and the arts. A second wave, which lasted from about 1865 to 1900, was strongly connected to the rise of the scientific professions. Its focus was on the sciences per se, and on the Dutch "Golden Age" of the 17th century. A third wave occurred during and shortly after the Second World War. Its focus was mainly on the "Second Golden Age" of Dutch science (1870-1910), and its major audience were young boys that were to be recruited to the sciences. The second part of the paper discusses the growing influence of "contextualization" in both the history of science and the history of technology from about 1975 onwards. As a result, local factors often received more attention in historical studies of science and technology than national influences. In 1985, Klaas van Berkel undertook a bold attempt to write a new synthesis of the history of Dutch science, but his approach was too strongly influenced by the three previous waves of national histories. From 1989 to 2003 two projects on the national history of technology resulted in 13 volumes on Dutch technology between 1800 and 1970. New research was initiated, and the issue of "national styles" in the development of technology received ample attention. In his conclusions the author points to lessons to be learned from economic history and the history of art, and he concludes with a plea for more historiographical discussion in the history of science and technology.

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.

The dilemmas of seditious men: the Crowther–Hessen correspondence in the 1930s

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. J. CHILVERS
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
International Congress ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biographical Sketches ◽  
Second International

The Marxist history of science has played an enormous role in the development of the history of science. Whether through the appreciation of its insights or the construction of a political fortress to prevent infusion, its presence is felt. From 1931 the work of Marxists played an integral part in the international development of the history of science, though rarely have the connections between them or their own biographies been explored. These networks convey a distinct history, alongside political, methodological and personal implications, impressing on us a greater understanding of the possibilities that were present and were lost in the most turbulent of decades. Two of the most notable were Boris Hessen, a founder of Marxist history of science, and J. G. Crowther, one of its most prolific exponents. My examination explores aspects of the dialogue between these controversial figures, starting with brief biographical sketches. Their lives became briefly entwined following the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology in 1931, demonstrated with reference to the meeting and the correspondence between them until Hessen's death. In doing so, some new facts and old controversies surface, though most importantly the nature of the correspondence carries implications for the Marxist history of science and for the wider movement of which it is part. The Russian delegation to the congress declared that science was at a crossroads. The history of science was at a similar crossroads in the 1930s.

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