Servants of Nature
A History of Scientific Institutions, Enterprises and Sensibilities
Published on 4. May 1999
Book
Hardback
700 pages
978-0-00-223842-7 (ISBN)
Description
A work that explores the interaction between the practice of science and public life.
In this penetrating work, Lewis Pyenson and Susan Sheets-Pyenson identify that major advances in science stem from changes in three distinct areas of society: the social institutions that promote science, the sensibilities of scientists themselves and the goal of the scientific enterprise.
Servants and Interpreters of Nature begins by examining the institutions that have shaped science: the academies of Ancient Greece, universities, the growth of museums of science, technology and natural history, botanical and zoological gardens, and the advent of modern specialized research laboratories.
It is equally comprehensive when it analyses changing scientific sensibilities - for example, the relationship between religion and science, or the interplay between the growth of democracy and the growth of scientific knowledge.
The final section of this book is on the changing nature of the scientific enterprise and considers how the goals of science have evolved.
It is an indispensable account of how science, perhaps above all other human endeavours, has shaped, and been shaped by, the world we inhabit today.
In this penetrating work, Lewis Pyenson and Susan Sheets-Pyenson identify that major advances in science stem from changes in three distinct areas of society: the social institutions that promote science, the sensibilities of scientists themselves and the goal of the scientific enterprise.
Servants and Interpreters of Nature begins by examining the institutions that have shaped science: the academies of Ancient Greece, universities, the growth of museums of science, technology and natural history, botanical and zoological gardens, and the advent of modern specialized research laboratories.
It is equally comprehensive when it analyses changing scientific sensibilities - for example, the relationship between religion and science, or the interplay between the growth of democracy and the growth of scientific knowledge.
The final section of this book is on the changing nature of the scientific enterprise and considers how the goals of science have evolved.
It is an indispensable account of how science, perhaps above all other human endeavours, has shaped, and been shaped by, the world we inhabit today.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Illustrations
8 b/w plates
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 47 mm
Weight
822 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-223842-7 (9780002238427)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
A husband-and-wife team from Louisiana.
Susan Sheets-Pyenson was, until her death in 1998, Associate Professor of History at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University in Montreal.
Lewis Pyenson is Professor of History and Mathematics, and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Southwestern Louisiana.
Susan Sheets-Pyenson was, until her death in 1998, Associate Professor of History at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University in Montreal.
Lewis Pyenson is Professor of History and Mathematics, and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Southwestern Louisiana.