Science and Society 1600-1900

Most books on the history of science have been `internal' in their scope and objectives - plotting progress within different branches of science as the frontiers of knowledge about formal scientific relationships get pushed back by intellectual advance. The history of science is thus seen primarily as a record of progressive intellectual discovery at the hands of individual genius. What might be called the 'external relations' of science - investigating the impact of scientific knowledge upon its wider historical context (and the impact of that context upon the development of science) - has received much less attention. The unifying theme of this book, as its title indicates, is the relationship between science and society.