Tag Archives: history

The Historical Science Society of 1840

Posted on August 4, 2012 by

My second post on the new Guardian Science blog, The H Word, is now up – looking at The first HSS, a 19th-century venture doomed to failure as a result of its young founder’s succumbing to bibliophilic temptation.

Posted in Historiography, History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Darwin’s motivation

Posted on December 5, 2010 by

For some time now I have been convinced that Darwin’s original and most pressing problem was not adaptation. It was the existence of taxonomic diversity. I have thought that the debates over what was a natural classification amongst the unjustly … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, History | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Yes, histories of science are worth reading!

Posted on October 6, 2010 by

In a previous post, Alice Bell suggested in a comment that I read the article by Mark Erickson in this month’s issue of History of the Human Sciences. The issue also contains responses from Patricia Fara, Steve Fuller and Joseph … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Science | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Hume, Curiosity, and the Justification of Scientific Endeavor

Posted on October 1, 2010 by

A considerable portion of the philosophy of David Hume can be interpreted as an attempt to formulate a proper philosophical account of the scientific endeavor itself. This certainly is a major concern for Hume; much of his discussion of causation, … Continue reading →

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Martyr of Science

Posted on September 27, 2010 by

I wrote this introduction to David Brewster’s collected biography of Galileo, Tycho Brahe and Kepler, Martyrs of Science (1841), some time ago when there was a plan to republish it as part of a collected edition of popular 19th-century works on science and history … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, Book, History, Physics, Religion, Science | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Good, popular history of science II

Posted on September 21, 2010 by

When I asked for suggestions for good, popular history of science I received a wide variety of responses, which I should have expected, given the nature of Twitter and the range of views that exist regarding what history of science … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, History | Tagged , | 23 Comments