Ida H. Stamhuis – författare

The theme of this book was chosen because of the great concern with the worldwide decreasing interest in the natural sciences. The image of these sciences as dull, uninspiring, masculine, environmentally unfriendly and very technical was mentioned as an important reason. Historical context would help in the discussions around these recent perceptions. Many intriguing questions are discussed. How is the changing image of the sciences experienced by the general public, by the scientists themselves, or in disciplines in which natural sciences are applied? How can it be connected to the phenomenon of the low number of women in science? The book should be useful to a broad spectrum of readers, from our colleagues in universities to the general public. It can very well be used as a textbook in undergraduate courses in the history of science and in science and society. In addition, the individual chapters can stand on their own and be studied in courses in the various sciences, or in philosophy.

The title of our book would lead the reader to believe that in speaking ofthe chang­ ing image of the sciences, we are taking for granted the multiplicity of sciences, as these are practiced, for instance, in modern universities. That was, of course, not always the case. Although we can point to some subjects, for instance mathematical astronomy, as being demarcated to some extent from other subjects as far back as Antiquity, the current division into individual sciences can hardly be traced back fur­ ther than the nineteenth century. Moreover,the further we go back inhistory, the more we must subsume science under general knowledge or scholarship:scientia. Some of the earliest imagesofepisteme or scientia, are those of forbidden knowledge - often related to technology - on the one hand, and the absent-minded scholar on the other. These are powerful metaphors - in word as well as image - that have been appro­ priated in various ages for different purposes. The Greeks gave Western society its first images ofthe power ofknowledge and those who produced it. Prometheus ridiculed the gods, stole their fire, and brought it down to Earth. For this, Zeus had him chained to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture fed on his liver during the day, while it grew back at night. He was finally freed by Herac1es.