Politics, geopolitics, and the history of science: on James Secord’s “Inventing the scientific revolution”

Since the institutionalisation of the history of science as a discipline in the early 1950s, the "Scientific Revolution" has been its master narrative and central organising principle. However, this narrative has attracted critical scrutiny since the last decades of the twentieth century. For many historians, the idea of the Scientific Revolution was formulated when the history of science was confined overwhelmingly to North American and British institutions. Instead of focusing on Europe and the West, it might be more fruitful to recognise the influence of post-Second World War politics in shaping the concept, while also taking into account the demographic changes in the discipline, which today includes women and men from all over the world.

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Publication Details

Journal
História Ciências Saúde-Manguinhos
Published
2025-01-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-59702025000100021
Primary Topic
Twentieth Century Scientific Developments
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Politics, geopolitics, and the history of science: on James Secord’s “Inventing the scientific revolution”

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História Ciências Saúde-Manguinhos
Twentieth Century Scientific Developments
article

Politics, geopolitics, and the history of science: on James Secord’s “Inventing the scientific revolution”

Erica Torrens, Marco Ornelas-Cruces, Ana Barahona, José Daniel Serrano Juárez, Kapil Raj, María Alicia Villela-González, Brian Becerra-Bressant, Diana Galván-Escobar, Lucía Granados-Riveros, Teresa Villegas-López
article en

Abstract

Since the institutionalisation of the history of science as a discipline in the early 1950s, the "Scientific Revolution" has been its master narrative and central organising principle. However, this narrative has attracted critical scrutiny since the last decades of the twentieth century. For many historians, the idea of the Scientific Revolution was formulated when the history of science was confined overwhelmingly to North American and British institutions. Instead of focusing on Europe and the West, it might be more fruitful to recognise the influence of post-Second World War politics in shaping the concept, while also taking into account the demographic changes in the discipline, which today includes women and men from all over the world.

História Ciências Saúde-ManguinhosVol. 32
École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique (FR), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX)
Directorate for Biological Sciences, Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 85%
Twentieth Century Scientific Developments
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