Call for papers: Before Montucla: Historiography of Science in the Early Modern Era, Workshop at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany, March 3/4, 2016
Before Montucla: Historiography of Science in the Early
Modern Era Workshop at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Science and Technology
Studies, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany, March 3/4, 2016
During the last decades many new topics, approaches and
research agendas emerged in historiography of science. The field extricated
itself from descriptive positivism and celebratory Whiggism and began to take
account of the various contexts of historical writings, creatively combining
methods of the humanities and the social sciences with knowledge of the
sciences. Historiography of science, however, still lacks evaluation and
interpretation of its own history. In other words, the history of historiography
of science has not been written yet. General overviews of the origins of
history of science as a discipline usually go back to the end of the 19th
century but historiography of science is much older. Some scholars say that it
began in classical antiquity, among pupils of Aristotle. Other authors argue
that the discipline originated in the efforts of early modern scientists to
convey legitimacy and nobility to their field. Other authors argue that
historiography of science arose in the Enlightenment in close relation to the
study of the history of the human spirit. Every attempt to seriously study the
history of historiography of science must therefore start with finding out when
the moment came in which historiography of science emerged as a discipline with
its own themes, specifics methods and supporting institutions. We assume that
historiography of science originated in the early modern period because at that
time “science” in the modern meaning of the word emerged – and in order to be
recognized as a producer of knowledge worth of knowing it had to offer its
impressive pedigree. But still there are a lot of questions concerning the
origins, aims, functions and methods used in the first outlines of the history
of science.
The workshop wants to address these gaps in our
knowledge. We welcome all contributions that relate to the history of
historiography of science especially in the period from the Renaissance to the
beginning of the 19th century. We want to examine how the perception of the
history of science was influenced by philosophical assumptions, mainly by
philosophy of history: e. g. did scientists and historians view the history of
science as a linear accumulation of knowledge or as a cyclical process in which
periods of blossom and barbarism alternated? We are interested in how the
themes of contemporary general historiography, including chronology or biblical
history, affected the outlines of the history of science. Did scientists and
historians synchronize the history of science with the political and
socio-economic events (as in the Marxist historiography)? What factors were
recognized as decisive in the development of science? Further, we are
interested in the role of mythological and religious strategies in promoting
particular points of view on the history of science. We are interested in
nationalist, racist and religious prejudices that influenced different forms of
interpretation of the history of science. We welcome papers that relate to the
iconography of the historiography of science and various ways of graphical
representations of and in the history of science. The literary strategies of
early historians of science are an interesting problem as well. We want to
discuss key concepts of the historical forms of historiography of science: the
changing ideas of scientific progress, of history, of science; emancipation
from prejudices, tradition, cumulativism etc.
We are also interested in what scientists and historians expected of
their historical overviews of the development of science, i.e.: what were the
functions of historiography of science? What kind of transformations can be
seen, especially in the period from 16th to the early 19th century? Who were
the supposed (and real) addressees of such historical accounts. What was the
public for which the outlines of the history of science had been prepared? And
what effect and impact was expected?
The workshop is being organized at the Interdisciplinary
Centre for Science and Technology Studies (IZWT) at the Bergische Universität
Wuppertal. For further information on the topic, please get in touch with
Volker Remmert, remmert@uni-wuppertal.de;
or Daniel Špelda spelda@kfi.zcu.cz. The
workshop’s ambit invites interdisciplinary collaboration. Proposals for papers
from all who can contribute to the topic are therefore welcome. Special
consideration will be given to proposals from young scholars. The language of
the workshop will be English. Submissions must include a title, an abstract
(1–2 pages) of a 20 minute presentation, and a short CV (maximum one page).
Submissions should be sent to Volker Remmert at remmert@uni-wuppertal.de no later
than July 18, 2015. Contributors’ overnight accommodation costs will be
covered. But because funds are limited, please let us know well in advance if
you will need support to cover travelling expenses.
Volker Remmert (Wuppertal), Daniel Špelda (Pilsen)