The history of science and technology (HST) is a field of history that examines the development of the understanding of the natural world (science) and humans' ability to manipulate it (technology) at different points in time. This academic discipline also examines the cultural, economic, and political context and impacts of scientific practices; it likewise may study the consequences of new technologies on existing scientific fields.
Academic study of history of science
History of science is an academic discipline with an international community of specialists. Main professional organizations for this field include the History of Science Society, the British Society for the History of Science, and the European Society for the History of Science.
Much of the study of the history of science has been devoted to answering questions about what science is, how it functions, and whether it exhibits large-scale patterns and trends.
History of the academic study of history of science Histories of science were originally written by practicing and retired scientists, starting primarily with William Whewell's History of the Inductive Sciences (1837), as a way to communicate the virtues of science to the public.
Auguste Comte proposed that there should be a specific discipline to deal with the history of science.
The development of the distinct academic discipline of the history of science and technology did not occur until the early 20th century. Historians have suggested that this was bound to the changing role of science during the same time period.
After World War I, extensive resources were put into teaching and researching the discipline, with the hopes that it would help the public better understand both Science and Technology as they came to play an exceedingly prominent role in the world.
In the decades since the end of World War II, history of science became an academic discipline, with graduate schools, research institutes, public and private patronage, peer-reviewed journals, and professional societies.
Formation of academic departments In the United States, a more formal study of the history of science as an independent discipline was initiated by George Sarton's publications, Introduction to the History of Science (1927) and the journal Isis (founded in 1912). Sarton exemplified the early 20th-century view of the history of science as the history of great men and great ideas. He shared with many of his contemporaries a Whiggish belief in history as a record of the advances and delays in the march of progress.
The study of the history of science continued to be a small effort until the rise of Big Science after World War II. With the work of I. Bernard Cohen at Harvard University, the history of science began to become an established subdiscipline of history in the United States.
In the United States, the influential bureaucrat Vannevar Bush, and the president of Harvard, James Conant, both encouraged the study of the history of science as a way of improving general knowledge about how science worked, and why it was essential to maintain a large scientific workforce.
Universities with history of science and technology programs
Argentina Buenos Aires Institute of Technology, Argentina, has been offering courses on History of the Technology and the Science. National Technological University, Argentina, has a complete history program on its offered careers.
Australia The University of Sydney offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the History and Philosophy of Science, run by the Unit for the History and Philosophy of Science, within the Science Faculty. Undergraduate coursework can be completed as part of either a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Undergraduate study can be furthered by completing an additional Honours year. For postgraduate study, the Unit offers both coursework and research-based degrees. The two course-work based postgraduate degrees are the Graduate Certificate in Science (HPS) and the Graduate Diploma in Science (HPS). The two research based postgraduate degrees are a Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
Belgium University of Liège, has a Department called Centre d'histoire des Sciences et Techniques.
Canada Carleton University Ottawa offer courses in Ancient Science and Technology in its Technology, Society and Environment program. University of Toronto has a program in History and Philosophy of Science and Technology. Huron University College offers a course in the History of Science which follows the development and philosophy of science from 10,000 BCE to the modern day.url = https://huronatwestern.ca/sites/default/files/Interdisc%20outlines/HISTSCI%202200E%20updated%20Winter%202020%20-%20Doyle.pdf | University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia has a History of Science and Technology Program.
France Nantes University has a dedicated Department called Centre François Viète. Paris Diderot University (Paris 7) has a Department of History and Philosophy of Science. A CNRS research center in History and Philosophy of Science SPHERE, affiliated with Paris Diderot University, has a dedicated history of technology section. Pantheon-Sorbonne University (Paris 1) has a dedicated Institute of History and Philosophy of Science and Technics. The École Normale Supérieure de Paris has a history of science department.
Germany
Technische Universität Berlin, has a program in the History of Science and Technology. The of Masterpieces of Science and Technology in Munich is one of the largest science and technology museums in the world in terms of exhibition space, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology.Website Deutsches Museum
Greece The University of Athens has a Department of Philosophy and History of Science
India History of science and technology is a well-developed field in India. At least three generations of scholars can be identified. The first generation includes D.D.Kosambi, Dharmpal, Debiprasad Chattopadhyay and Rahman. The second generation mainly consists of Ashis Nandy, Deepak Kumar, Dhruv Raina, S. Irfan Habib, Shiv Visvanathan, Gyan Prakash, Stan Lourdswamy, V.V. Krishna, Itty Abraham, Richard Grove, Kavita Philip, Mira Nanda and Rob Anderson. There is an emergent third generation that includes scholars like Abha Sur and Jahnavi Phalkey.
Departments and Programmes
The National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies had a research group active in the 1990s which consolidated social history of science as a field of research in India. Currently there are several institutes and university departments offering HST programmes. Jawaharlal Nehru University has an Mphil-PhD program that offers specialisation in Social History of Science. It is at the History of Science and Education group of the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies (ZHCES) in the School of Social Sciences. Renowned Indian science historians Deepak Kumar and Dhruv Raina teach here. Also, *Centre for Studies in Science Policy has an Mphil-PhD program that offers specialization in Science, Technology, and Society along with various allied subdisciplines. Central University of Gujarat has an MPhil-PhD programme in Studies in Science, Technology & Innovation Policy at the Centre for Studies in Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (CSSTIP), where Social History of Science and Technology in India is a major emphasis for research and teaching. Banaras Hindu University has programs: one in History of Science and Technology at the Faculty of Science and one in Historical and Comparative Studies of the Sciences and the Humanities at the Faculty of Humanities. Andhra University has now set History of Science and Technology as a compulsory subject for all the First year B-Tech students.
Israel Tel Aviv University. The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas is a research and graduate teaching institute within the framework of the School of History of Tel Aviv University. Bar-Ilan University has a graduate program in Science, Technology, and Society.
Japan Kyoto University has a program in the Philosophy and History of Science. Tokyo Institute of Technology has a program in the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Technology. The University of Tokyo has a program in the History and Philosophy of Science.
Netherlands Utrecht University, has two co-operating programs: one in History and Philosophy of Science at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and one in Historical and Comparative Studies of the Sciences and the Humanities at the Faculty of Humanities.
Poland
Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences offers PhD programmes and habilitation degrees in the fields of History of Science, Technology and Ideas.
Russia
Spain University of the Basque Country, offers a master's degree and PhD programme in History and Philosophy of Science and runs since 1952 THEORIA. International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science. The university also sponsors the Basque Museum of the History of Medicine and Science, the only open museum of History of Science of Spain, that in the past offered also PhD courses. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, offers a master's degree and PhD programme in HST together with the Universitat de Barcelona. Universitat de València, offers a master's degree and PhD programme in HST together with the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.
Sweden Linköpings universitet, has a Science, Technology, and Society program which includes HST.
Switzerland University of Bern, has an undergraduate and a graduate program in the History and Philosophy of Science.
Ukraine
State University of Infrastructure and Technologies, has a Department of Philosophy and History of Science and technology.
United Kingdom University of Bristol has a masters and PhD program in the Philosophy and History of Science. University of Cambridge has an undergraduate course and a large masters and PhD program in the History and Philosophy of Science (including the History of Medicine). University of Durham has several undergraduate History of Science modules in the Philosophy department, as well as Masters and PhD programs in the discipline. University of Kent has a Centre for the History of the Sciences, which offers Masters programmes and undergraduate modules. University College London's Department of Science and Technology Studies offers undergraduate programme in History and Philosophy of Science, including two BSc single honour degrees (UCAS V550 and UCAS L391), plus both major and minor streams in history, philosophy and social studies of science in UCL's Natural Sciences programme. The department also offers MSc degrees in History and Philosophy of Science and in the study of contemporary Science, Technology, and Society. An MPhil/PhD research degree is offered, too. UCL also contains a Centre for the History of Medicine. This operates a small teaching programme in History of Medicine. University of Leeds has both undergraduate and graduate programmes in History and Philosophy of Science in the Department of Philosophy. University of Manchester offers undergraduate modules and postgraduate study in History of Science, Technology and Medicine and is sponsored by the Wellcome Trust. University of Oxford has a one-year graduate course in 'History of Science: Instruments, Museums, Science, Technology' associated with the Museum of the History of Science. The London Centre for the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology – this Centre closed in 2013. It was formed in 1987 and ran a taught MSc programme, jointly taught by University College London's Department of Science and Technology Studies and Imperial College London. The Masters programme transferred to UCL.
United States