
Research
A Manifesto
Peter N. Miller(Author)
Princeton University Press
Will be published approx. on 27. October 2026
Book
Hardback
232 pages
978-0-691-27305-1 (ISBN)
Description
A short, bold, and timely history and defense of research in the humanities and sciences and its incalculable importance
If there was a single tool that could cure disease, improve the quality of human life, send people into outer space, and uncover vital riddles from the deepest past, wouldn't we celebrate it as humanity's greatest achievement? That tool exists-it's called research, and it powers the modern world, channeling roughly $3 trillion a year to solve problems and answer questions across fields as distant as computer science and classics. Yet, for all its importance, research as a subject is seriously neglected-dangerously so today, when the priceless research structure built since World War II is under existential attack. In Research, Peter N. Miller offers a passionate, original, and eloquent history and defense of research.
Research is a history, but it is also a philosophical exploration of inquiry and creativity. Some elements of research go back to antiquity; others to the seventeenth century. Only in the nineteenth did it become itself a subject of reflection. And in the twentieth, it reached a pre-eminence that led to an informal compact between government and the university-an alliance that has now been shattered, producing enormous risks for the well-being of people and the planet.
Today, more than ever, we need to understand what research means and why it matters. Engaging and provocative, Research is essential reading for everyone working in the humanities and sciences-and all those who believe in the value of discovery.
If there was a single tool that could cure disease, improve the quality of human life, send people into outer space, and uncover vital riddles from the deepest past, wouldn't we celebrate it as humanity's greatest achievement? That tool exists-it's called research, and it powers the modern world, channeling roughly $3 trillion a year to solve problems and answer questions across fields as distant as computer science and classics. Yet, for all its importance, research as a subject is seriously neglected-dangerously so today, when the priceless research structure built since World War II is under existential attack. In Research, Peter N. Miller offers a passionate, original, and eloquent history and defense of research.
Research is a history, but it is also a philosophical exploration of inquiry and creativity. Some elements of research go back to antiquity; others to the seventeenth century. Only in the nineteenth did it become itself a subject of reflection. And in the twentieth, it reached a pre-eminence that led to an informal compact between government and the university-an alliance that has now been shattered, producing enormous risks for the well-being of people and the planet.
Today, more than ever, we need to understand what research means and why it matters. Engaging and provocative, Research is essential reading for everyone working in the humanities and sciences-and all those who believe in the value of discovery.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
1 b/w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-691-27305-1 (9780691273051)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Peter N. Miller is a historian and the author of many books, including On Conservation as a Human Science (Princeton), The Weather on 9/9/01, History and Its Objects, Peiresc's Mediterranean World, and Peiresc's Europe. He is president of the American Academy in Rome and former dean of the Bard Graduate Center.