Instruments, Travel and Science
Itineraries of Precision from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century
Published on 18. July 2002
Book
Hardback
316 pages
978-0-415-27295-7 (ISBN)
Description
We are now accustomed to conceive of science as an instrumental activity, producing numbers, measurements and graphs by means of sophisticated devices. This book investigates the historical process that gave rise to this instrumental culture. The contributors trace the displacement of instruments across the globe, the spread of practices or precision and the circulation and appropriation of skills and knowledge.
Through comparative and contextual approaches, the volume confronts the tension between the local and the global, examining the process of the universalization of science. Bringing together case studies ranging from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, contributors discuss French, German and British initiatives, as well as the knowledge and techniques of travellers in countries such as India, Africa, South East Asia and the Americas.
Students and researchers interested in the history of science in both Western and non-Western cultures will find this book a valuable and thought-provoking read.
Through comparative and contextual approaches, the volume confronts the tension between the local and the global, examining the process of the universalization of science. Bringing together case studies ranging from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, contributors discuss French, German and British initiatives, as well as the knowledge and techniques of travellers in countries such as India, Africa, South East Asia and the Americas.
Students and researchers interested in the history of science in both Western and non-Western cultures will find this book a valuable and thought-provoking read.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
640 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-415-27295-7 (9780415272957)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Marie Noelle Bourguet | Christian Licoppe | H. Otto Sibum
Instruments, Travel and Science
Itineraries of Precision from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century
Book
08/2014
1st Edition
Routledge
€84.50
Shipment within 10-20 days
Marie Noelle Bourguet | Christian Licoppe | H. Otto Sibum
Instruments, Travel and Science
Itineraries of Precision from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century
E-Book
08/2003
Routledge
€77.99
Available for download
Marie Noelle Bourguet | Christian Licoppe | H. Otto Sibum
Instruments, Travel and Science
Itineraries of Precision from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century
E-Book
08/2003
Routledge
€77.99
Available for download
Persons
H. Otto Sibum, Marie Noelle Bourguet, Christian Licoppe
Content
Marie-Noelle Bourguet, Christian Licoppe and H. Otto Sibum Introduction 1. Simon Schaffer Golden Means: Assay Instruments and the Geography of Precision in the Guinea Trade 2. Christian Licoppe The Project for a Map of Languedoc in Eighteenth-Century France at the Contested Intersection between Astronomy and Geography. The Problem of Co-ordination between Philosophers, Instruments and Observations as a Keystone of Modernity 3. Jim Bennett The Travels and Trials of Mr. Harrison's Timekeeper 4. Marie-Noelle Bourguet Landscape With Numbers: Natural History, Travel and Instruments (Mid-18th to Early 19th Century) 5. Giuliano Pancaldi Approaching Invention: the Reception of the Voltaic Battery in Europe 6. Kapil Raj When Human Travellers Become Instruments: The Indo-British Exploration of Central Asia in the 19th Century 7. Christophe Bonneuil The Manufacture of Species: Kew Gardens, the Empire, and the Standardization of Taxonomic Practises in Late 19th-Century Botany 8. H. Otto Sibum Exploring the Margins of Precision 9. Richard Staley Travelling Light 10. David Turnball Travelling Knowledge: Narratives, Assemblage and Encounters