From Natural Philosophy to the Sciences: Writing the History of Nineteenth-Century Science (review)

Historians take stock of what they know chiefly during comprehensive exams or when focusing on new research projects. This volume of essays by leading scholars offers a shorter way to take stock of current scholarship, at least for the historiography of the "long nineteenth century" of scientific enterprise. This period of re-definitions and significant re-conceptualizations about the study of the natural world was analyzed comprehensively by Merz, Bernal, and Ben-David, whose overarching themes continue to intrigue us.¹ Contributors to this volume often refer to these predecessors even as they challenge or expand on classic arguments. As editor, Cahan draws out three themes that have occupied recent scholars across field boundaries, the emergence of specialized scientific disciplines; the social reconfiguration of scientists and their organizations; and the interrelationship of science with the economic, political, and cultural aspects of society.

All of the essays are informative. Robert Richards' well-written reflections on the rich biology literature concentrates on trends in historiography during the past thirty years or so. His observations, sharply analytical at times, suggest that the best scholars engage in "synthetic construction" that pulls into play intellectual lives "streaked with social relationships." David Oldroyd's review of scholarship in the earth sciences has a similar thrust. Noting that synthesis is "not the norm" in the historiography of the earth sciences, Oldroyd masterfully manages the vast array of literature in eighteen thematic sections, highlighting the important themes emerging from literature produced by scholars throughout Europe as well as Britain and the United States.

Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent offers a multifaceted and genuinely international account of chemistry in its "golden age" through her account of historical studies connecting chemistry to medicine, biology, physics, and industry. Ulrich Wengenroth pursues similar topics. After tracing the scholarship of the linear "science-technology push" and its challengers, and discussing technology transfer and engineering education, she concludes that "science seems to have been much more a mental than a material foundation" for nineteenth-century industry, notwithstanding case studies that reveal complex relationships between science and technology.

In addition, Michael Hagner ruminates on the question of "scientific medicine," Joseph Dauben on mathematics, Jed Z. Buchwald and Sungook Hong on physics, Theodore M. Porter on the social sciences, Cahan on institutions and communities, and Frederick Gregory on science and religion. The essays are idiosyncratic, inevitably because of differences in the density, and even sophistication, of the work in various areas of the history of science. Particularly impressive are the authors' efforts to transcend national boundaries, not to find some universal theory but to demonstrate the rich context of practice that advances or constrains particular intellectual developments. Cross-disciplinary as well as cross-national comparisons are in evidence. Most of the authors point out potential topics for further research. Bensaude-Vincent calls for historical writing that will appeal to a broader public, and Porter appeals for "new and richer ways" to position disciplinary histories in their social context. The comprehensive bibliography alone makes this a valuable tool for teaching and research.