HPS&ST

NEWSLETTER
 hps&st
newsletter
april 2021

The hps&st newsletter is emailed monthly to should be sent direct to the editor: Michael R.
about 9,500 individuals who directly or indirectly Matthews, unsw ([Link]@[Link]).
have an interest in the contribution of history and
philosophy of science to theoretical, curricular The newsletter, along with resources, obitu-
and pedagogical issues in science teaching, and/or aries, opinion pieces and more, are available at
interests in the promotion of innovative, engaging the website: [Link]
and effective teaching of the history and philo-
sophy of science. The newsletter is sent on to hps&st newsletter staff
different international and national hps lists and
international and national science teaching lists. Editor Michael Matthews
In print or electronic form, it has been published
for 25+ years. Assistant Editor
(Opinion Page
The newsletter seeks to serve the diverse interna- & Formatting) Nathan Oseroff-Spicer
tional community of hps&st scholars and teach-
ers by disseminating information about events Assistant Editor
and publications that connect to concerns of the (Publications
hps&st community. & Website) Paulo Maurício

Contributions to the newsletter (publications,

conferences, opinion pieces, &.) are welcome and issn: 2652-2837
contents
Third iuhpst Essay Prize in History Philosophy of Science Association
and Philosophy of Science . . . . . 3 (psa) Covid Teaching Resources . . 6

Science History Institute Receives Dibner Award, Society for the His-
clir Grant to Digitise Papers of tory of Technology . . . . . . . . . 7
Georg and Max Bredig . . . . . . . 4
Opinion Piece: The Abuses of
Conference, Société de philosophie Popper, Charlotte Sleigh . . . . . . 7
des sciences, September 8-10, 2021,
History of Science YouTube Channel 14
University of Mons . . . . . . . . . 4
Recent hps&st Research Articles . . 15
Executive Director, History of Sci-
ence Society (usa) . . . . . . . . . 5 Recent hps&st Related Books . . . 16

Assistant Editor Required, hps&st Coming hps&st Related Conferences 23

Newsletter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
hps&st Related Organisations and
ihpst 2021 Webinars . . . . . . . . 6 Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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april 2021 hps&st newsletter

Third iuhpst Essay Prize in History we need to craft a nuanced notion of “common
sense” in order to guide people in sharing in-
and Philosophy of Science formation with each other. We commend Marlis
Hinckley for this bold and original essay, which
takes a reflective look at history to challenge our
The International Union of History and Philo-
present ways of life.
sophy of Science and Technology (iuhpst) is
pleased to announce the outcome of the compet- Ms. Hinckley will receive her prize and present
ition for the third iuhpst Essay Prize in History the content of their essay in a special session at the
and Philosophy of Science. This prize competition 26th International Congress of History of Science
seeks to encourage fresh methodological thinking and Technology (ichst) in Prague (online), 25–31
on the history and philosophy of science as an in- July 2021.
tegrated discipline. For this round of the competi-
tion the prize question was: “What can history and This prize is administered by the Joint Commis-
philosophy of science, technology and medicine sion, whose remit is to make links between the
contribute to our current global challenges?” The work of the two Divisions of the iuhpst, namely
full text of the call for entries can be found here. the dhst (Division of History of Science and Tech-
nology) and the dlmpst (Division of Logic, Meth-
The winner of the 2021 prize is the essay en- odology and Philosophy of Science and Techno-
titled “Misinformation age: What early modern logy). 
scientific fakes can tell us about today’s online fab-
rications” by Ms. Marlis Hinckley of Johns Hop- The panel of judges for the 2021 competition con-
kins University. This thoughtful, provocative, and sisted of: Rachel Ankeny, University of Adelaide,
well-argued essay gives an illuminating analysis of Australia; Agnes Bolinska, University of South
how misinformation can spread, looking at the Carolina, USA; Hasok Chang (chair), University
16th century as a source of insight. Hinckley of Cambridge, UK; Benedikt Löwe, Universities
draws an imaginative and instructive parallel of Amsterdam/Hamburg/Cambridge, the Neth-
between 16th-century animal fakes (in particular, erlands/Germany/UK; Helen Longino, Stanford
Aldrovandi’s “dragon”) and some salient current University, USA, Joseph Martin, Durham Uni-
cases such as the impact of the Wakefield study versity, UK; Michael Osborne, Oregon State Uni-
on autism and vaccination, and the circulation of versity, USA, and Dirk Schlimm, McGill Univer-
misinformation about covid-19. The linkages she sity, Canada.   For further information about the
draws are keen, sensitive, plausible, and relevant. iuhpst, see [Link]
The historical work Hinckley presents is a deft and
productive synthesis, succinct and filled with con-
tent.

It genuinely integrates a philosophical perspect-

ive in order to understand the nature of inform-
ation and to advance an ethical argument about
responsible information-sharing. Hinckley opens
up important practical questions and suggests that

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hps&st newsletter april 2021

Science History Institute Receives [Link]

clir Grant to Digitise Papers of

Georg and Max Bredig
Conference, Société de philosophie
des sciences, September 8-10, 2021,
Collection Smuggled Out of Nazi Germany Tells University of Mons
Story of Noted German Jewish Scientist’s Rise to
Prominence and His Family’s Struggle to Survive the
Holocaust The next meeting of the Société de philo-
sophie des sciences  (SPS :  [Link]
The Science History Institute has been awarded a [Link]/) will take place on September 8
$198,454 grant from the Council on Library and – 10 2021 at the University of Mons (Belgium).
Information Resources (clir) for the project Sci-
ence and Survival: Digitising the Papers of Georg Organising committee: Antoine Brandelet (Uni-
and Max Bredig. versity of Mons), Anne Staquet (University of
Mons), Jérémy Attard (University of Mons), Alice
Unlike many other archival collections of German Van Helden (University of Namur), Bertrand
Jewish scientists that were seized and destroyed by Hespel (University of Namur), Dominique Lam-
the Nazis, Georg Bredig’s papers miraculously sur- bert (University of Namur).   The main theme of
vived. This award will be used to catalogue, trans- the 2021 congress will be: “Sciences and scientifi-
late, digitise, and make publicly accessible nearly city”
3,000 letters, photographs, and other documents
from this newly rediscovered trove of rare historic The meeting is composed of:
material as well as the related war-time papers of
(1) Invited speakers: Marion Vorms (Université
Max Bredig, Georg’s son.
Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), Jean-Pierre
Georg Bredig (1868–1944) was a pioneering sci- Cléro (Centre Bentham Paris & Université de
entist in the field of physical chemistry who held Rouen), Stephan Lewandowsky (University of
important academic positions until his career was Bristol), Guillaume Lecointre (Muséum national
ended by the Nazis in 1933. The pre-1933 ma- d’histoire naturelle), Alan Sokal (New York Uni-
terials detail Bredig’s early scientific training and versity & University College London), Brigitte
his rise to international prominence during the Axelrad (Université de Grenoble, vice-présidente
golden age of German science. The collection con- de l’AFIS).
tains extensive correspondence with many No- (2) Symposia (In English or French) of 3-4 inter-
bel laureates in chemistry and physics, includ- ventions on one specific theme; the total length of
ing Svante Arrhenius, Wilhelm Ostwald, Niels a symposium is 1:30-2:00 depending on the num-
Bohr, Ernst Rutherford, Fritz Haber, Max Planck, ber of included interventions. Symposia are highly
Walther Nernst, and Harold Urey. recommended, notably if they include both scientific
and philosophical interventions.
For more information about the Science History (3) Individual papers (In English or French), suit-
Institute and this award, please visit: able for a 30-minute presentation (discussion

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april 2021 hps&st newsletter

included).   Deadline for submission : April be commensurate with experience. The position
30th 2021 will begin on July 1, 2021.
Submission via the website [Link]
[Link]/ The ideal candidate will bring a strong commit-
For any inquiries, please contact Antoine Bran- ment to hss’s mission, and to increase diversity,
delet ([Link]@[Link]) inclusivity, and transparency in the organisational
culture of the society. The following professional
qualifications, skills, and experience will be im-
portant for success in the role of Executive Dir-
Executive Director, History of Sci- ector:

ence Society (usa)

• Experience with budgeting, financial state-
The History of Science Society seeks a visionary ments and fundraising
Executive Director. Founded in 1924, the Society
is dedicated to understanding science, technology, • Excellent interpersonal communication skills,
and medicine in historical context. More than and a commitment to teamwork
1700 individual members, one-third of whom
reside outside the United States, support the So- • Excellent computer skills and an understand-
ciety’s mission to foster interest in the history of ing of the value of technology
science, promote discussion of science’s social and
cultural relations, and bring this understanding to • Experience with conference planning
others worldwide.
• An advanced degree in the history of science or
The Society’s 2014 Strategic Plan may be found another relevant academic field
here.

As the History of Science Society looks towards its • Senior-level managerial experience in founda-
second century, the next Executive Director (ed) tions, research, higher education or the non-
will be charged with advancing the Society’s mis- profit sector, including strategic planning,
sion in a global context. The successful candid- budgeting, and staff management
ate will ensure that the Society sustains a vibrant
scholarly community and acts as an effective ad-
vocate for the history of science. The ideal candid-Candidates should submit a cover letter ad-
ate will bring experience in academic administra- dressing the position description, a cur-
tion or nonprofit management, as well as enthusi- riculum vitae, and a list of three references
asm for working with elected leadership to create to directorsearch@[Link]. For ques-
new avenues for advancing the history of science. tions and nominations, please contact Pro-
fessor Florence Hsia, Search Committee Chair
This is a full-time position based in the United ([Link]@[Link]). Review of applications
States with a renewable 3-year contract, subject to will begin on May 2, 2021 and continue until the
annual performance review. Compensation will position is filled.

5
hps&st newsletter april 2021

Assistant Editor Required, hps&st Sibel Erduran, the Editor-in-Chief of Science &
Education about the research on History, Philo-
Newsletter sophy, and Sociology of Science in Science Edu-
cation. After the talk, the webinar will be opened
The History, Philosophy and Science Teaching to the audience to leave comments and pose ques-
Newsletter has been produced, in one form or an- tions.
other, for 40+ years. It is now published on the
web. The Contents announcement goes directly Teaching Aspects of the Nature of Science
to about 9,500 emails and to different hps lists and Date and time to be announced.
science education lists.
William McComas will introduce and discuss
The newsletter has been edited by Michael contributions to the anthology Nature of Science in
Matthews at the University of New South Science Instruction Rationales and Strategies (Mc-
Wales ([Link]@[Link]). There are Comas 2020)
two Assistant Editors, Paulo Maurício, Lisbon
The webinars are open only to members of the
([Link]@[Link]) and Nathan Oseroff-
ihpst Group. Further details, including Abstracts
Spicer, London, (nathanoseroff@[Link]).
of the webinars and ihpst membership details are
A third assistant editor is now being sought in or- available here.
der to contribute to the Contents and Promotion
of the newsletter, and particularly with seeking
out and inviting Opinion Page essays from science
educators and historians and philosophers of sci-
ence. This is an opportunity to join an established
team and contribute to the growth of the interna-
Philosophy of Science Association
tional hps&st community.
(psa) Covid Teaching Resources
All enquiries to the editor or assistant editors.

Teaching Philosophy in the Time of covid is a new

resource page on the psa website. It features
ihpst 2021 Webinars syllabi, articles, videos, podcasts, and other re-
sources related to philosophy and the coronavirus.
The planned ihpst July International Conference If you’ve found an interesting source on philo-
in Calgary has been postponed till 3-7 July 2022. sophy and the coronavirus, we invite you to sub-
In lieu of the conference there will be a series of mit it. The page will be updated weekly with new
webinars available to IHPST members. materials that are useful for professors teaching
philosophy and covid-19 in the classroom or for
Importance of Research on History, Philosophy whomever is trying to think philosophically about
and Sociology of Science in Science Education: the pandemic.
Reflections from the Editor-in-Chief of Science &
Education May 7th 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m gmt Details available here.

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april 2021 hps&st newsletter

Dibner Award, Society for the His- Opinion Piece: The Abuses of
tory of Technology Popper, Charlotte Sleigh
Charlotte Sleigh is a researcher, writer and prac-
titioner across the fields of science and humanit-
ies. Her research interests began in the history of
biology and have continued as such with six books
Nominations are open for the Society for the His- on different animals. Besides this, she has written
tory of Technology’s Dibner Award. In general, widely on the historical and textual relationships
online, screen-based and physical exhibits are eli- between science and writing (Literature and Science,
gible. However, in 2021 because of the restrictions Palgrave 2010), and twentieth-century history of
on refereeing imposed by the pandemic, only on- science (Scientific Governance in Britain, 1914-79,
line exhibits will be considered eligible. So, if you mup 2016, co-edited with Don Leggett). In more
have a suitable online exhibit please do apply! The recent years Charlotte has been involved with Art
closing date for applications is 30 April 2021. and Science projects and climate science commu-
nication. She is a former editor of the British Journal
The Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Ex- for the History of Science and current president of
hibits was established in 1985, through the gen- the British Society for the History of Science.
erosity of Bern Dibner, to recognise excellence in
museums and museum exhibits that interpret the
history of technology, industry, and engineering
to the general public. Winning exhibits, in addi-
tion to being well designed and produced, should
raise pertinent historical issues. Artefacts and im-
ages should be used in a manner that interests,
teaches, and stimulates both the general public
and historians. The award consists of a plaque and
up to $1,000 to cover expenses for a member of
the design team to accept the award at the shot
awards banquet.

Exhibits are eligible for this award if they have

been open to the public for no more than 24
months before the deadline for nominations. The
Society especially encourages nominations from If you ask philosophically minded researchers –
local and regional museums and historical societ- in the Anglophone world at least – why it is that
ies. science works, they will almost always point to
the philosopher Karl Popper (1902-94) for vindic-
Further information about the prize, including the ation. Science, they explain, doesn’t presume to
nomination form, a list of past recipients, and the provide the final answer to any question, but con-
members of the Dibner Award Committee can be tents itself with trying to disprove things. Science,
found on the shot website here. so the Popperians claim, is an implacable machine

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hps&st newsletter april 2021

for destroying falsehoods. the rest of his life.

Popper spent his youth in Vienna, among the lib-

eral intelligentsia. His father was a lawyer and
bibliophile, and an intimate of Sigmund Freud’s
sister Rosa Graf. Popper’s early vocations draw
him to music, cabinet making and educational
philosophy, but he earned his doctorate in psy-
chology from the University of Vienna in 1928.
Realising that an academic post abroad offered
escape from an increasingly antisemitic Austria
(Popper’s grandparents were all Jewish, though he
himself had been baptised into Lutheranism), he
scrambled to write his first book. This was pub-
lished as Logik der Forschung (1935), or The Lo-
gic of Scientific Discovery, and in it he put forward
his method of falsification. The process of science,
wrote Popper, was to conjecture a hypothesis and
Karl Popper, 1987. Photo by Süddeutsche Zei-
then attempt to falsify it. You must set up an ex-
tung/Alamy
periment to try to prove your hypothesis wrong. If
it is disproved, you must renounce it. Herein, said For all its appealing simplicity, falsification was
Popper, lies the great distinction between science quickly demolished by philosophers, who showed
and pseudoscience: the latter will try to protect it- that it was an untenable way of looking at science.
self from disproof by massaging its theory. But in In any real experimental set-up, they pointed out,
science it is all or nothing, do or die. it’s impossible to isolate a single hypothetical ele-
ment for disproof. Yet for decades, Popperianism
Popper warned scientists that, while experimental
has nonetheless remained popular among scient-
testing might get you nearer and nearer to the
ists themselves, in spite of its potentially harmful
truth of your hypothesis via corroboration, you
side-effects. Why should this be?
cannot and must not ever proclaim yourself cor-
rect. The logic of induction means that you’ll It was a group of biologists that gave Popper his
never collect the infinite mass of evidence neces- first scientific hearing. They met as the Theor-
sary to be certain in all possible cases, so it’s better etical Biology Club in the 1930s and ’40s, at the
to consider the body of scientific knowledge not University of Oxford, at house parties in Surrey,
so much true as not-yet-disproved, or provision- and latterly in London too. Popper visited them
ally true. With his book in hand, Popper obtained both before and after the war, as they wrestled with
a university position in New Zealand. From afar, evolutionary theory and with establishing con-
he watched the fall of Austria to Nazism, and com- nections between their different biological spe-
menced work on a more political book, The Open cialisms. During the prewar period in particu-
Society and its Enemies (1945). Shortly after the lar, evolutionary biology was – depending on one’s
war, he moved to the UK, where he remained for outlook – either excitingly complex or confusingly

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april 2021 hps&st newsletter

jumbled. Neat theories of Mendelian evolution, Among the eager philosophical scientists of the
where discrete characteristics were inherited on Theoretical Biology Club was a young man named
the toss of a chromosomal coin, competed to ex- Peter Medawar. Shortly after the Second World
plain evolution with arcane statistical descriptions War, Medawar was drafted into a lab researching
of genetic qualities, continuously graded across tissue transplantation, where he began a Nobel-
populations. Meanwhile the club’s leading light, winning career in the biological sciences. In his
Joseph Henry Woodger, hoped for a philosoph- several books for popular audiences, and in his
ically tight way of clarifying the notoriously flaky bbc Reith lectures of 1959, he consistently cred-
biological concept of ‘organicism’. Perhaps Pop- ited Popper for the success of science, becom-
per’s clarifying rigour could help to sort it all out. ing the most prominent Popperian of all. (In
turn, Richard Dawkins credited Medawar as ‘chief
spokesman for “The Scientist” in the modern
world’, and has spoken positively of falsifiabil-
ity.) In Medawar’s radio lectures, Popper’s trade-
mark ‘commonsense’ philosophy was very much
on display, and he explained with great clarity how
even hypotheses about the genetic future of man-
kind could be tested experimentally along Pop-
perian lines. In 1976, Medawar secured Popper
his most prestigious recognition yet: a fellowship,
rare among non-scientists, at the scientific Royal
Photo supplied by the author Society of London.

It is a striking fact that Popper’s most vocal fans While all this was going on, three philosophers
came from the biological and field sciences: John were pulling the rug away beneath the Popperians’
Eccles, the Australian neurophysiologist; Clarence feet. They argued that, when an experiment fails to
Palmer, the New Zealand meteorologist; Geoffrey prove a hypothesis, any element of the physical or
Leeper, an Australian soil scientist. Even Her- theoretical set-up could be to blame. Nor can any
mann Bondi, an Austrian-British physical scient- single disproof ever count against a theory, since
ist, who operated at the speculative end of cos- we can always put in a good-faith auxiliary hypo-
mology. In other words, it was the scientists thesis to protect it: perhaps the lab mice weren’t
whose work could least easily be potted in an at- sufficiently inbred to produce genetic consistency;
tempted laboratory disproof – Popper’s method perhaps the chemical reaction occurs only in the
– who turned to Popper for vindication. This is presence of a particular catalyst. Moreover, we
odd. Presumably, they hoped for some epistemo- have to protect some theories for the sake of get-
logical heft for their work. To take a wider angle ting on at all. Generally, we don’t conclude that we
on the mystery, we might note the ‘physics envy’ have disproved well-established laws of physics –
sometimes attributed to 20th-century field scient- rather, that our experiment was faulty. And yet the
ists: the comparative lack of respect they experi- Popperians were undaunted. What did they see in
enced in both scientific and public circles. Popper him?
seemed to offer salvation to this particular ill.

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hps&st newsletter april 2021

The historian Neil Calver argued in 2013 that jured all politics, all truths. They didn’t attempt to
members of the Royal Society were swayed less by know the atom, still less to win wars. They merely
Popper’s epistemological rules for research than attempted to disprove things. As Medawar put it
by his philosophical chic. During the 1960s, they in The Hope of Progress (1972):
had been pummelled by the ‘two cultures’ debate
that cast them as jumped-up technicians in com- The Wicked Scientist is not to be taken seriously
parison with the esteemed makers of high cul- …There are, however, plenty of wicked philosoph-
ture. Philosophy was a good cultural weapon with ers, wicked priests and wicked politicians.
which to respond, since it demonstrated affinity
with the arts. In particular, Popper’s account of Falsification was a recipe to proclaim personal
what came before falsification in research was a modesty as well. In an interview in 2017 for the
good defence of the ‘cultural’ qualities of science. Oral History of British Science project, the crystal-
He described this stage as ‘conjecture’, an act of lographer John Helliwell rejected, with some em-
imagination. Medawar and others made great play barrassment, the notion that he might have been
of this scientific creativity in order to sustain cul-responsible for any revolutionary ‘paradigm shift’
tural kudos for their field. Their Popper was not in science (the coinage of Popper’s contemporary,
the Popper of falsification at all, but another Pop- Thomas Kuhn), when he pioneered a new method
per of wishful interpretation. for visualising proteins and viruses, reaching in-
stead for the humble method of falsification to de-
Although important to its participants, the two
scribe his work.
cultures debate was a storm in an institutional tea-
cup. During the 1950s and ’60s, when Popper’s One person’s modesty, however, can be another
Logik der Forschung was available in English (The person’s denial of responsibility. A darker way of
Logic of Scientific Discovery, 1959), clouds were rendering the Popper vs Strangelove story is to say
gathering that threatened to flood out more than that falsification offers moral non-accountability
the chinaware of the Royal Society. In the pub- to its adherents. A scientist can never be accused
lic mind, the scientist was becoming a dangerous of supporting the wrong cause if their work is not
figure, the bogeyman responsible for the atomic about confirmation. Popper himself declared that
bomb. Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove (1964), science is an essentially theoretical business. Yet
played in so memorably deranged a fashion by it was a naïve scientist working during the Cold
Peter Sellers, was the embodiment of the type. War who didn’t realise the significance of their
Strangelove struck at the heart of Popperian ideals, funding source and the implications of their re-
an unreconstructed Nazi operating at the military- search. Medawar, for example, knew full well
industrial nerve-centre of the ‘free world’. As such, that his own field of immunology sprang directly
he reflected the real-life stories of Nazi war crim- from attempts at skin grafting and transplanta-
inals imported by Operation Paperclip to the US tion on wounded victims of the Second World
to assist in the Cold War effort – a whitewash- War. Moreover, he was perfectly aware of the high
ing project uncovered as early as 1951 by The Bo- body-count involved in its experiments (including
ston Globe. Against such a backdrop, the epistemic the use of guillotined criminals in France) – by no
modesty of Popperian science was appealing in- means unethical in all cases, but certainly far from
deed. Real scientists, in the Popperian mode, ab- theoretical.

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april 2021 hps&st newsletter

ists had it straight in their minds. Science merely

provided the facts; it was for the potential par-
ent to decide. On one level, this sounds innocu-
ous – and Medawar was by no means a bad per-
son. But it was, and remains, intellectually short-
sighted to disconnect science and ethics in this
way. To suppose a situation in which a potential
parent will exercise a perfect and unencumbered
liberal choice lends unwarranted impartiality to
Microscopic slides showing the development of the scientific facts. In reality, economics or polit-
grafted tissue, from an early paper by Peter ics might force that parent’s hand. A more ex-
Medawar. Courtesy the Wellcome Library treme example makes the case clear: if a scientist
explains nuclear technology to a bellicose despot,
The Popperian get-out clause was deployed in that but leaves the ethical choice of deployment to the
most controversial of 20th-century sciences, eu- despot, we wouldn’t say that the scientist had ac-
genics. Medawar didn’t hesitate to deploy the sup- ted responsibly.
posed moral non-accountability of science in de-
fending eugenics, the topic that furnished the basis As he prepared his lectures on the ‘future of
of his bbc lectures and much that followed. His ar- man’, Medawar speculated that biological ‘fitness’
gument was a subtle one, separating the science of was in fact best understood as an economic phe-
eugenics into two types. ‘Positive’ eugenics – the nomenon:
creation of a perfect race – he characterised as bad
because it was (a) Nazi, and (b) an unfalsifiable sci-
[I]t is, in effect, a system of pricing the endowment
entific goal – un-Popperian on two counts. This
of organisms in the currency of offspring: ie, in
left the field clear for Medawar to lend his sup- terms of net reproductive performance.
port to ‘negative’ eugenics, the deliberate preven-
tion of conception by carriers of certain genetic
conditions. This, claimed Medawar, was a strictly Making such a connection – between the hid-
scientific (that is, Popperian) question, and didn’t den hand of nature and the apparently impar-
touch upon matters of ethics. It was something of tial decisions of the market – was a hot way to
an invidious argument. read Popper. His greatest fans outside the sci-
entific community were, in fact, economists. At
With Popperian impatience over so-called mere
the London School of Economics, Popper was
semantics, Medawar brushed away worries that
close to the neoliberal theorist Friedrich Hayek.
the eugenic word ‘fitness’ implied a judgment
He also taught the soon-to-be billionaire George
about who was ‘fit’ or not to be a part of so-
Soros, who named his Open Society Foundations
ciety. Rather, Medawar claimed, it was a mere
(formerly, the Open Society Institute) after Pop-
tag of convenience for an idea that had perfect
per’s most famous book. Along with Hayek and
clarity among evolutionary biologists. Ordinary
several others, Popper founded the Mont Pelerin
people shouldn’t worry themselves about its im-
Society, promoting marketisation and privatisa-
plications; the important thing was that scient-
tion around the world.

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hps&st newsletter april 2021

Popper’s appointment to a fellowship at the Royal sion of debate and of human beings for its success.
Society marked the demise of a powerful strand Having a philosophical cover-story for this kind
of socialist leadership in British science that had of neoliberalism, that likens it to (Popperian) sci-
begun in the 1930s with the cadre of talented ence, does it no harm at all.
and public-facing researchers (J D Bernal, J B S
Haldane and others) whom the historian Gary In thinking and writing about Popper, one be-
Werskey in 1978 dubbed ‘the visible college’. In- comes very conscious of antisemitism. Popper
deed, Popper had encountered many of them dur- fled Nazi hatred in 1930s Austria; today, Soros is
ing his prewar visits to the Theoretical Biology the victim of antisemitic slurs that would be ri-
Club. While they were sharpening their complex diculous were it not for the history and the real
science against the edge of Popper’s philosophy, he threat of continued violence in which they are
might well have been whetting his anti-Marxist in- rooted. We do well to remember the biographical
clinations against their socialised vision of science reasons that Popper had for advancing an open
– even, perhaps, their personalities. What Pop- society, and for trying to redeem science from
per did in The Open Society was take the biolo- the sins committed by Nazi researchers. The sly
gists’ politicising of science and attach it to anti- elision of fascist and socialist science as the op-
fascism. Science and politics were connected, but ponent to Popperianism – sometimes deliberate,
not in the way that the socialists claimed. Rather, sometimes unconscious – is a move for which it’s
science was a special example of the general liberal more difficult to find sympathy.
virtues that can be cultivated only in the absence
Science is profoundly altered when considered
of tyranny.
analogous to the open market. The notion that
After the war, the commitment of visible-college scientific theories vie with one another in open
scientists to nation-building saw them involved competition overlooks the fact that research am-
in many areas of governmental, educational and bitions and funding choices are shaped by both
public life. The Popperians hated them. In The big-p and small-p politics. There is a reason why
Road to Serfdom (1944), Hayek warned that they more scientific progress has been made in drugs
were ‘totalitarians in our midst’, plotting to create for the treatment of diseases of wealth than of
a Marxist regime. They should leave well alone, poverty. Moreover, career success in science –
he argued, and accept that their lab work bore no which shapes future research agendas when a per-
connection to social questions. Hayek’s bracket- son becomes a leader in their field – is a mat-
ing off of governance was no more plausible in ter profoundly inflected by gender, race, class and
science than it was in economics. The greatest dis/ability.
myth of neoliberalism is that it represents a neut-
ral political perspective – a commitment to non-
meddling – when in fact it must be sustained
through aggressive pro-business propaganda and
the suppression of organised labour. So, while
Soros’s social activism has done much good in
the world, it has been funded through economic
activity that depends upon a systematic repres-

12
april 2021 hps&st newsletter

iers. In a YouTube video from 2019, the Clear

Energy Alliance (which DeSmog Blog lists as fun-
ded by oil interests) called upon the ‘legendary sci-
entific philosopher Karl Popper’. The group’s cent-
ral claim is that: ‘In order to know if a theory could
be true, there must be a way to prove it to be false.
Unfortunately, many climate change scientists, the
media and activists are ignoring this cornerstone
of science.’

At the same time, academics at recognised uni-

versities write scholarly sounding papers for the
libertarian, neoliberal and sceptic Cato Institute
arguing that ‘Popper’s evolutionary epistemology
captures …the essence of science, but the conduct
of climate science today is a far cry from [it]’. Such
writers typically hail from the fields of economics
and policy rather than science; untroubled by the
critique of scientists, Popper’s contested and out-
dated account of science suits them perfectly.

While Hayek et al held the smoking gun of Pop-

Scientists refused Popper’s distinction between
perian mischief, there were well-intentioned reas-
science and ethics in Science for the People
ons for sticking with a simple model of sceptical
Some unscrupulous researchers even used a Pop- science. Not least that it dovetailed with the mer-
perian frame to become, precisely, the ‘wicked sci- itocratic narrative of post-war science: the no-
entists’ whose existence Medawar denied. As the tion that science, more than any other discipline,
historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway de- suited the upwardly mobile working and middle
scribe in Merchants of Doubt (2010), scientists in classes. It takes a particular kind of education and
the US and the UK were co-opted as lobbyists for upbringing to see the aesthetics of completion, or
tobacco companies during the late-20th century grasp the mathematics of proof, but any smart kid
to cast doubt upon research that revealed a link can poke holes in something. If that’s what science
between smoking and cancer. No such link could is, then it’s open to anyone, no matter their social
be proved, in Popperian terms; and that room for class. This was the meritocratic dream of educa-
doubt was ruthlessly exploited by the scientists’ tionalists in the 1950s: Britain would, in mutually
paymasters. Many of the same scientists went on supportive vein, be culturally modern and intel-
to work for fossil fuel lobbyists, casting doubt on lectually scientific.
the science of anthropogenic climate change.
That dream backfired. The notion that science is
It doesn’t take much time on a search engine to all about falsification has done incalculable dam-
find examples of Popperianism wielded by den- age not just to science but to human wellbeing.

13
hps&st newsletter april 2021

It has normalised distrust as the default condi- PhD Theses in hps&st Domain
tion for knowledge-making, while setting an un-
reachable and unrealistic standard for the sci-
The hps&st newsletter is the ideal medium for
entific enterprise. Climate sceptics demand pre-
publicising and making known submitted and
cise predictions of an impossible kind, yet seize
awarded doctoral theses in the hps&st domain.
upon a single anomalous piece of data to claim
to have disproved the entire edifice of combined The following details should be submitted to the
research; anti-vaxxers exploit the impossibility of editor at [Link]@[Link]:
any ultimate proof of safety to fuel their destruct-
ive activism. In this sense, Popperianism has a
• Candidate’s name and email
great deal to answer for.
• Institution
Originally published in Aeon Magazine, 16 Febru-
ary 2021 • Supervisor

• Thesis title

• Abstract of 100-300 words

Invitation to Submit Opinion Piece
• Web link when theses are required to be sub-
mitted for open search on web.
In order to make better educational use of the
wide geographical and disciplinary reach of this
hps&st newsletter, invitations are extended for History of Science YouTube Chan-
readers to contribute opinion or position pieces or
suggestions about any aspect of the past, present nel
or future of hps&st studies.
The history of science channel on YouTube is
an initiative of Brazilian and Portuguese scholars.
It disseminates various areas of knowledge related
Contributions can be sent direct to Michael
to the history of science, technology, and scientific
Matthews or Nathan Oseroff-Spicer.
education through brief conversations with spe-
cialists, professors, and researchers from all over
the world. There are currently about 100 present-
Ideally, they might be pieces that are already on ations available on the channel. The bulk in Por-
the web, in which case a few paragraphs introduc- tuguese, but some in English.
tion, with link to web site can be sent, or else the
pieces will be put on the web with a link given in The channel was created by two Ph.D. students
the newsletter. of the Doctoral Program in the History of Sci-
ences and Scientific Education promoted jointly
They will be archived in the opinion folder at the by the University of Coimbra and the University
hps&st web site: [Link] of Aveiro. The videos, typically 10-15 minutes, are

14
april 2021 hps&st newsletter

reviewed and approved by the interviewees them- tion, 1-17. doi:10.1007/s11191-021-00198-y

selves and by an editorial board of professors from online first
the Doctoral Program.
Folkers, C. (2021). Disproportionate Impacts of
The most recent addition to the channel is a brief Radiation Exposure on Women, Children,and
presentation on ‘hps-informed Teaching of Pen- Pregnancy: Taking Back our Narrative. J Hist
dulum Motion’ by Michael Matthews, UNSW. Biol, 1-36. doi:10.1007/s10739-021-09630-z
online first
The presentation draws on his contribution to the
recent Springer anthology Nature of Science in Ihde, D. (2021). From Heideggerian Industrial
Science Instruction Rationales and Strategies. Gigantism to Nanoscale Technologies. Found
Sci, 1-13. doi:10.1007/s10699-020-09731-8
The History Channel administrators can be con- online first
tacted direct at:
Jacoby, F. (2021). Acids and Rust: A New
historyofscienceuc@[Link] Perspective on the Chemical Revolution.
Perspectives on Science, 29(2), 215–236.
Proposals for presentations would be warmly re-
doi:10.1162/posc_a_00366
ceived.
Machery, E. (2021). A mistaken confidence
in data. Euro Jnl Phil Sci 11(34), 1-17.
Recent hps&st Research Articles doi:10.1007/s13194-021-00354-9

Mejias, S, Thompson, N, Sedas, RM, et al. (2021).

hyle: International Journal for Philosophy of
The trouble with steam and why we use it
Chemistry (V. 27, N. 1, March 2021)
anyway. Science Education, 105, 209– 231.
Special Issue on “Bridging the Philosophies of
doi:10.1002/sce.21605
Biology and Chemistry”
Editor: Joachim Schummer [Link] O’Raifeartaigh, C., O’Keeffe, M. & Mitton, S.
org/journal/issues/27-1/[Link] (2021). Historical and philosophical reflec-
tions on the Einstein-de Sitter model. epj h
Bernarduzzi, L.F., Bernardi, E.M., Ferrari, A. et
46, 4. doi:10.1140/epjh/s13129-021-00007-8
al. (2021). Augmented Reality Application for
Handheld Devices. Science & Education, 1-19. Pfeffer, M. (2021). The Society of Astro-
doi:10.1007/s11191-021-00197-z online first logers (c.1647–1684): Sermons, feasts
and the resuscitation of astrology in
Charalampous, C. (2021). The Confined Atom:
seventeenth-century London. The Brit-
James Clerk Maxwell on the Fundamental
ish Journal for the History of Science, 1-21.
Particles and the Limits of Scientific Know-
doi:10.1017/S0007087421000029 online first
ledge. Perspectives on Science, 29(2), 189–214.
doi:10.1162/posc_a_00365 Philip, R.(2021). India’s National Science Tal-
ent Search Examination (1963–1976). Science
Fackler, A. (2021). When Science Denial Meets
& Education, 1-23. doi:10.1007/s11191-021-
Epistemic Understanding. Science & Educa-

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hps&st newsletter april 2021

00210-5 online first for a reengagement with the natural sciences. Tak-
ing their cues from recent breakthroughs in genet-
Prkachin, Y. (20219. “The Sleeping Beauty of ics and the neurosciences, advocates of “big history”
the Brain”: Memory, MIT, Montreal, and the are reassessing long-held assumptions about the
Origins of Neuroscience. Isis, 112(1), 22-44. very definition of history, its methods, and its evid-
doi:10.1086/713795 entiary base. In Scientific History, Elena Aronova
maps out historians’ continuous engagement with
van Strien, M. (2021). Was physics ever determin- the methods, tools, values, and scale of the natural
istic? The historical basis of determinism and sciences by examining several waves of their exper-
the image of classical physics. epj h, 46, 8. imentation that surged highest at perceived times of
doi:10.1140/epjh/s13129-021-00012-x trouble, from the crisis-ridden decades of the early
twentieth century to the ruptures of the Cold War.
Wei, B., Chen, X. (2021). Examining Teaching
“The book explores the intertwined trajectories of
Emphases of History of Science in Award-
six intellectuals and the larger programs they set in
Winning Science Lesson Plans in Macao. Sci-
motion: Henri Berr (1863–1954), Nikolai Bukharin
ence & Education, 1-19. doi:10.1007/s11191-
(1888–1938), Lucien Febvre (1878–1956), Nikolai
021-00208-z online first Vavilov (1887–1943), Julian Huxley (1887–1975),
and John Desmond Bernal (1901–1971). Though
Rheinberger, H. J. (2021). Commentary to “Prac-
they held different political views, spoke differ-
ticing Dialectics of Technoscience During the
ent languages, and pursued different goals, these
Anthropocene” by Hub Zwart. Found Sci, 1-5..
thinkers are representative of a larger motley crew
doi:10.1007/s10699-020-09773-y online first who joined the techniques, approaches, and values
of science with the writing of history, and who cre-
Secord, J. (2021). Revolutions in the head: Dar-
ated powerful institutions and networks to support
win, Malthus and Robert M. Young. The Brit-
their projects.
ish Journal for the History of Science, 1-19.
“In tracing these submerged stories, Aronova re-
doi:10.1017/S0007087420000631 online first
veals encounters that profoundly shaped our know-
Zwart, H. (2021).Practicing Dialectics of Technos- ledge of the past, reminding us that it is often the
cience during the Anthropocene. Found Sci, forgotten parts of history that are the most reveal-
1-20. doi:10.1007/s10699-020-09738-1 online ing.” (From the Publisher)

first
More information available here.
Recent hps&st Related Books
Cappelen, Herman & Dever, Josh (2021). Making
Aronova, Elena (2021). Scientific History: Exper- AI Intelligible: Philosophical Foundations. Oxford,
iments in History and Politics From the Bolshevik UK: Oxford University Press.
Revolution to the End of the Cold War. Chicago, isbn: 978-0-192-89472-4
IL: The University of Chicago Press. isbn: 978-0-
226-76138-1
“Can humans and artificial intelligences share con-
cepts and communicate? Making AI Intelligible
“Increasingly, scholars in the humanities are calling shows that philosophical work on the metaphysics

16
april 2021 hps&st newsletter

of meaning can help answer these questions. Her- on external devices—from stone to parchment to
man Cappelen and Josh Dever use the externalist slide rules to smartphones—for recording, storing,
tradition in philosophy to create models of how AIs and processing information. Beautifully illustrated
and humans can understand each other. In doing throughout with previously unstudied and unedited
so, they illustrate ways in which that philosophical diagrams, Lines of Thought is a historical overview
tradition can be improved. of an important cognitive habit, providing a new
“The questions addressed in the book are not window into the world of medieval scholars and
only theoretically interesting, but the answers have their patterns of thinking.” (From the Publisher)
pressing practical implications. Many important
decisions about human life are now influenced by
More information available here.
AI. In giving that power to AI, we presuppose that
AIs can track features of the world that we care
about (for example, creditworthiness, recidivism, Kelp, Christoph (2021). Inquiry, Knowledge, and
cancer, and combatants). If AIs can share our con- Understanding. Oxford, UK: Oxford University
cepts, that will go some way towards justifying this
Press.
reliance on AI. This ground-breaking study offers
isbn: 978-0-192-89609-4
insight into how to take some first steps towards
achieving Interpretable AI.” (From the Publishers)
“Inquiry, Knowledge, and Understanding takes in-
quiry as the starting point for epistemological the-
More information available here.
orising. It uses this idea to develop new and system-
atic answers to some of the most fundamental ques-
tions in epistemology, including about the nature
Even-Ezra, Ayelet (2021). Lines of Thought:
of core epistemic phenomena (most importantly:
Branching Diagrams and The Medieval Mind.
knowledge and understanding) as well as their value
Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
and the extent to which we possess them. Christoph
isbn: 978-0-226-74308-0
Kelp argues that knowledge is the constitutive aim
of inquiry into specific questions and that under-
“We think with objects—we conduct our lives sur- standing is the constitutive aim of inquiry into gen-
rounded by external devices that help us recall in- eral phenomena. He shows that these claims shed
formation, calculate, plan, design, make decisions, light on the nature of knowledge and understand-
articulate ideas, and organise the chaos that fills ing. He develops non-reductive ’network’ analyses
our heads. Medieval scholars learned to think with for both knowledge and understanding which elu-
their pages in a peculiar way: drawing hundreds of cidate the nature of knowledge and understanding
tree diagrams. Lines of Thought is the first book to in terms of their place in inquiry.
investigate this prevalent but poorly studied nota- “Activities with constitutive aims, including in-
tional habit, analysing the practice from linguistic quiry, constitute critical domains of value in which
and cognitive perspectives and studying its applic- the constitutive aim corresponds to a for-its-own-
ation across theology, philosophy, law, and medi- sake value relative to this domain. This study uses
cine. this idea to explain which epistemic phenomena
“These diagrams not only allow a glimpse into the are epistemically valuable for their own sake and
thinking practices of the past but also constitute a to develop new solutions to a range of import-
chapter in the history of how people learned to rely ant value problems in epistemology, including the

17
hps&st newsletter april 2021

time-honoured Meno problem: knowledge is more von Mises’ frequentism; Frank’s account of concept
valuable than mere true belief because it is the con- formation and confirmation; and the interrelations
stitutive aim of inquiry, and thus epistemically valu- between Nagel’s, Feigl’s, and Hempel’s versions of
able for its own sake.” (From the Publishers) logical empiricism.
“This book offers a comprehensive account of the
logical empiricists’ philosophy of physics. It is a
More information available here.
valuable resource for researchers interested in the
history and philosophy of science, philosophy of
Lutz, Sebastian & Tuboly, Adam Tamas (2021). physics, and the history of analytic philosophy.”
Logical Empiricism and the Physical Sciences: From (From the Publisher)
Philosophy of Nature to Philosophy of Physics.
More information available here.
Abingdon: Routledge. isbn: 978-1-138-36735-7

“This volume has two primary aims: to trace the Maxwell, Nicholas (2021). The World Crisis —
traditions and changes in methods, concepts, and And What to Do About It: A Revolution for
ideas that brought forth the logical empiricists’ Thought and Action. London, UK: World Sci-
philosophy of physics and to present and analyze entific
the logical empiricists’ various and occasionally
contrary ideas about the physical sciences and their “Science and technology have made the modern
philosophical relevance. These original chapters world possible, but also created all the global prob-
discuss these developments in their original con- lems that threaten our future: the climate crisis,
texts and social and institutional environments, the covid-19 pandemic, mass extinction of species,
thus showing the various fruitful conceptions and environmental degradation, overpopulation, lethal
philosophies behind the history of 20th-century modern war, and the menace of nuclear weapons.
philosophy of science. Nicholas Maxwell, world-renowned philosopher of
“Logical Empiricism and the Natural Sciences is di- science and author of 14 books, argues that all these
vided into three thematic sections. Part I sur- problems have come about because humans have
veys the influences on logical empiricism’s philo- solved only the first of two great problems of learn-
sophy of science and physics. It features chapters ing — how to acquire scientific knowledge and tech-
on Maxwell’s role in the worldview of logical em- nological know-how — but not the second — how
piricism, on Reichenbach’s account of objectivity, to create a civilised, wise world.
on the impact of Poincaré on Neurath’s early views “The key disaster of our times is that we have sci-
on scientific method, Frank’s exchanges with Ein- ence without wisdom. At present, universities all
stein about philosophy of physics, and on the for- over the world are devoted to the pursuit of spe-
gotten role of Kurt Grelling. Part II focuses on cialised knowledge and technology, or ”knowledge-
specific physical theories, including Carnap’s and inquiry”. Maxwell contends that they need to be
Reichenbach’s positions on Einstein’s theory of gen- radically transformed so that their basic function
eral relativity, Reichenbach’s critique of unified field becomes to help humanity tackle global problems,
theory, and the logical empiricists’ reactions to with a more rigorous and socially beneficial per-
quantum mechanics. The third and final group of spective he calls “wisdom-inquiry”. The World
chapters widens the scope to philosophy of science Crisis — And What to Do About It spells out in de-
and physics in general. It includes contributions on tail the changes that need to be made to academic

18
april 2021 hps&st newsletter

inquiry, why they need to be made, and how they “Are doctors right when they tell us vaccines are
would enable universities to help humanity actively safe? Should we take climate experts at their word
and effectively tackle and solve current global prob- when they warn us about the perils of global warm-
lems.” (From the Publisher) ing? Why should we trust science when so many of
our political leaders don’t? Naomi Oreskes offers a
bold and compelling defence of science, revealing
More information available here.
why the social character of scientific knowledge is
its greatest strength—and the greatest reason we can
trust it. Tracing the history and philosophy of sci-
Nail, Thomas (2021). Theory of the Earth. Red-
ence from the late nineteenth century to today, this
wood City, CA: Stanford University Press. isbn:
timely and provocative book features a new preface
978-1-503-62755-0
by Oreskes and critical responses by climate experts
Ottmar Edenhofer and Martin Kowarsch, polit-
“We need a new philosophy of the earth. Geological ical scientist Jon Krosnick, philosopher of science
time used to refer to slow and gradual processes, Marc Lange, and science historian Susan Lindee,
but today we are watching land sink into the sea as well as a foreword by political theorist Stephen
and forests transform into deserts. We can even see Macedo.”(Fom the Publisher)
the creation of new geological strata made of plastic,
chicken bones, and other waste that could remain in More information available here.
the fossil record for millennia or longer. Crafting a
philosophy of geology that rewrites natural and hu-
man history from the broader perspective of move- Oreskes, Naomi (2021). Science on a Mission: How
ment, Thomas Nail provides a new materialist, kin- Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don’t
etic ethics of the earth that speaks to this moment. Know About the Ocean. Chicago, IL: The Univer-
“Climate change and other ecological disruptions sity of Chicago Press. isbn: 978-0-226-73238-1
challenge us to reconsider the deep history of min-
erals, atmosphere, plants, and animals and to take “What difference does it make who pays for science?
a more process-oriented perspective that sees hu- “Some might say none. If scientists seek to dis-
manity as part of the larger cosmic and terrestrial cover fundamental truths about the world, and they
drama of mobility and flow. Building on his earlier do so in an objective manner using well-established
work on the philosophy of movement, Nail argues methods, then how could it matter who’s footing the
that we should shift our biocentric emphasis from bill? History, however, suggests otherwise. In sci-
conservation to expenditure, flux, and planetary di- ence, as elsewhere, money is power. Tracing the re-
versity. Theory of the Earth urges us to rethink our cent history of oceanography, Naomi Oreskes dis-
ethical relationship to one another, the planet, and closes dramatic changes in American ocean science
the cosmos at large.” (From the Publisher) since the Cold War, uncovering how and why it
changed. Much of it has to do with who pays.
More information available here. “After World War II, the US military turned to a
new, uncharted theatre of warfare: the deep sea.
The earth sciences—particularly physical oceano-
Oreskes, Naomi (2021). Why Trust Science? Prin- graphy and marine geophysics—became essential
ceton, NJ: Princeton University Press. to the US Navy, who poured unprecedented money
isbn: 978-0-691-21226-5 and logistical support into their study. Science on

19
hps&st newsletter april 2021

a Mission brings to light how this influx of military Robert Grosseteste. The Philosophy and Science of
funding was both enabling and constricting: it res- Roger Bacon is a crucial tool for scholars and stu-
ulted in the creation of important domains of know- dents working in the history of philosophy and sci-
ledge but also significant, lasting, and consequential ence and also for a broader audience interested in
domains of ignorance. Roger Bacon and his long-lasting contribution to
the history of ideas.” (From the Publisher)
“As Oreskes delves into the role of patronage in the
history of science, what emerges is a vivid portrait
of how naval oversight transformed what we know
More information available here.
about the sea. It is a detailed, sweeping history
that illuminates the ways funding shapes the sub-
ject, scope, and tenor of scientific work, and it raises Schummer, Joachim & Børsen, Tom (eds.) (2021).
profound questions about the purpose and charac- Ethics of Chemistry: From Poison Gas to Climate
ter of American science. What difference does it Engineering. Singapore: World Scientific.
make who pays? The short answer is: a lot.” (From
the Publisher)
“Although chemistry has been the target of numer-
ous public moral debates for over a century, there is
More information available here. still no academic field of ethics of chemistry to de-
velop an ethically balanced view of the discipline.
And while ethics courses are increasingly deman-
Polloni, Nicola & Kedar, Yael (2021). The Philo-
ded for science and engineering students in many
sophy and Science of Roger Bacon. Studies in Hon-
countries, chemistry is still lagging behind because
our of Jeremiah Hackett. Abingdon, UK: Rout- of a lack of appropriate teaching material. This
ledge. isbn: 978-0-367-47174-3 volume fills both gaps by establishing the scope of
ethics of chemistry and providing a cased-based ap-
proach to teaching, thereby also narrating a cultural
“The Philosophy and Science of Roger Bacon offers
history of chemistry.
new insights and research perspectives on one of the
most intriguing characters of the Middle Ages, Ro- “From poison gas in wwi to climate engineering of
ger Bacon. At the intersections between science and the future, this volume covers the most important
philosophy, the volume analyses central aspects of historical cases of chemistry. It draws lesson from
Bacon’s reflections on how nature and society can be major disasters of the past, such as in Bhopal and
perfected. The volume dives into the intertwining Love Canal, or from thalidomide, Agent Orange,
of Bacon’s philosophical stances on nature, substan- and ddt. It further introduces to ethical arguments
tial change, and hylomorphism with his scientific pro and con by discussing issues about bisphenol-A,
discussion of music, alchemy, and medicine. The polyvinyl chloride, and rare earth elements; as well
Philosophy and Science of Roger Bacon also invest- as of contested chemical projects such as human en-
igates Bacon’s projects of education reform and his hancement, the creation of artificial life, and pat-
epistemological and theological ground maintain- ents on human dna. Moreover, it illustrates chem-
ing that humans and God are bound by wisdom, ical engagements in preventing hazards, from the
and therefore science. Finally, the volume exam- prediction of ozone depletion, to Green Chemistry,
ines how Bacon’s doctrines are related to a wider and research in recycling, industrial substance sub-
historical context, particularly in consideration of stitution, and clean-up. Students also learn about
Peter John Olivi, John Pecham, Peter of Ireland, and codes of conduct and chemical regulations.

20
april 2021 hps&st newsletter

“An international team of experts narrate the histor- an account of the emergence of inequality that links
ical cases and analyse their ethical dimensions. All inequality to intermediate levels of conflict and co-
cases are suitable for undergraduate teaching, either operation: a final phase of cooperation in large-
in classes of ethics, history of chemistry, or in chem- scale, hierarchical societies in the Holocene, begin-
istry classes proper.” (From the Publisher) ning about 12,000 years ago.
“The Pleistocene Social Contract combines philo-
More information available here. sophy of biology with a reading of the archaeolo-
gical and ethnographic record to present a new
model of the evolution of human cooperation, cul-
Sterelny, Kim (2021). The Pleistocene Social Con- tural learning, and inequality.” (From the Pub-
tract: Culture and Cooperation in Human Evolu- lisher)
tion. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
isbn: 978-0-197-53138-9
More information available here.

“Kim Sterelny here builds on his original ac-

count of the evolutionary development and inter- Yates, JoAnne & Murphy, Craig N. (2021). Engin-
action of human culture and cooperation, which he
eering Rules: Global Standard Setting since 1880.
first presented in The Evolved Apprentice (2012).
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Sterelny sees human evolution not as hinging on
isbn: 978-1-421-44003-3
a single key innovation, but as emerging from a
positive feedback loop caused by smaller diver-
gences from other great apes, including bipedal lo- “Private, voluntary standards shape almost
comotion, better causal and social reasoning, repro- everything we use, from screw threads to shipping
ductive cooperation, and changes in diet and for- containers to e-readers. They have been critical
aging style. He advances this argument in The Pleis- to every major change in the world economy for
tocene Social Contract with four key claims about more than a century, including the rise of global
cooperation, culture, and their interaction in hu- manufacturing and the ubiquity of the internet.
man evolution. In Engineering Rules, JoAnne Yates and Craig N.
“First, he proposes a new model of the evolution of Murphy trace the standard-setting system’s evolu-
human cooperation. He suggests human coopera- tion through time, revealing a process with an as-
tion began from a baseline that was probably similar tonishingly pervasive, if rarely noticed, impact on
to that of great apes, advancing about 1.8 million all of our lives.
years ago to an initial phase of cooperative forging, “This type of standard setting was established in the
in small mobile bands. Second, he then presents a 1880s, when engineers aimed to prove their status
novel account of the change in evolutionary dynam- as professionals by creating useful standards that
ics of cooperation: from cooperation profits based would be widely adopted by manufacturers while
on collective action and mutualism, to profits based satisfying corporate customers. Yates and Murphy
on direct and indirect reciprocation over the course explain how these engineers’ processes provided a
of the Pleistocene. Third, he addresses the ques- timely way to set desirable standards that would
tion of normative regulation, or moral norms, for have taken much longer to emerge from the mar-
band-scale cooperation, and connects it to the sta- ket and that governments were rarely willing to set.
bilisation of indirect reciprocation as a central as- By the 1920s, the standardisers began to think of
pect of forager cooperation. Fourth, he develops themselves as critical to global prosperity and world

21
hps&st newsletter april 2021

peace. After World War II, standardisers transcen- and African and Latin American collaborators, and
ded Cold War divisions to create standards that looks in detail at the who’s selection of a Taiwanese
made the global economy possible. Finally, Yates scientist, Tsung-yi Lin, to be its medical officer and
and Murphy reveal how, since 1990, a new gen- head of the social psychiatry project. He discusses
eration of standardisers has focused on support- scientists’ pursuit of standardisation—not only to
ing the internet and web while applying the same synchronise sectors in the organisation but also to
standard-setting process to regulate the potential produce a common language of psychiatry—and
social and environmental harms of the increasingly how technological advances supported this. Wu
global economy. considers why the optimism and idealism of the so-
“Drawing on archival materials from three contin- cial psychiatry project turned to dissatisfaction, re-
ents, Yates and Murphy describe the positive ideals appraising the who’s early knowledge production
that sparked the standardisation movement, the modality through the concept of an “export pro-
ways its leaders tried to realise those ideals, and the cessing zone.” Finally, he looks at the who’s pro-
challenges the movement faces today. Engineering ject in light of current debates over psychiatry and
Rules is a riveting global history of the people, pro- global mental health, as scientists shift their con-
cesses, and organisations that created and maintain cerns from the creation of universal metrics to the
this nearly invisible infrastructure of today’s eco- importance of local matrixes.” (From the Publisher)
nomy, which is just as important as the state or the
global market.” (From the Publisher)
More information available here.

More information available here.

Yu, Han (2021). Mind Thief: The Story of
Alzheimer’s. New York, NY: Columbia University
Yi-Jui Wu, Harry (2021). Mad by the Millions:
Press. isbn: 978-0-231-19870-7
Mental Disorders and the Early Years of the World
Health Organization. Cambridge, MA: The MIT
Press. isbn: 978-0-262-04538-4 “Alzheimer’s disease, a haunting and harrowing ail-
ment, is one of the world’s most common causes of
“In 1948, the World Health Organization began to death. Alzheimer’s lingers for years, with patients’
prepare its social psychiatry project, which aimed to outward appearance unaffected while their cognit-
discover the epidemiology and arrive at a classific- ive functions fade away. Patients lose the ability
ation of mental disorders. In Mad by the Millions, to work and live independently, to remember and
Harry Y-Jui Wu examines the who’s ambitious pro- recognise. There is still no proven way to treat
ject, arguing that it was shaped by the postwar faith Alzheimer’s because its causes remain unknown.
in technology and expertise and the universalising “Mind Thief is a comprehensive and engaging his-
vision of a “world psyche.” Wu shows that the who’s tory of Alzheimer’s that demystifies efforts to un-
idealised scientific internationalism laid the found- derstand the disease. Beginning with the discovery
ations for today’s highly metricalised global mental of “presenile dementia” in the early twentieth cen-
health system. tury, Han Yu examines over a century of research
“Examining the interactions between the WHO and controversy. She presents the leading hypo-
and developing countries, Wu offers an analysis of theses for what causes Alzheimer’s; discusses each
the “transnationality” of mental health. He exam- hypothesis’s tangled origins, merits, and gaps; and
ines knowledge-sharing between the organisation details their successes and failures. Yu synthesises

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april 2021 hps&st newsletter

a vast amount of medical literature, historical stud- September 20-22, 2021, ‘Developing Mario
ies, and media interviews, telling the gripping stor- Bunge’s Scientific-Philosophical Programme’,
ies of researchers’ struggles while situating science Huaguang Academy of Information Science,
in its historical, social, and cultural contexts. Her Wuhan, China
chronicling of the trajectory of Alzheimer’s research Details from Zongrong LI 2320129239@[Link].
deftly balances rich scientific detail with attention
to the wider implications. In narrating the attempts July 3rd-7th, 2022, ihpst 16th International Con-
to find a treatment, Yu also offers a critical account ference, University of Calgary, Canada
of research and drug development and a considera- Details from Glenn Dolphin: [Link]@[Link].
tion of the philosophy of aging. Wide-ranging and
accessible, Mind Thief is an important book for all July 24-29, 2023, 17th dlmpst Congress, Univer-
readers interested in the challenge of Alzheimer’s.” sity of Buenos Aires Information: Pablo Loren-
(From the Publisher) zano, pablo@[Link].

More information available here.

hps&st Related Organisations and

Authors of hps&st-related papers and books
are invited to bring them to attention of
Websites
Paulo Maurício or Nathan Oseroff-Spicer for
inclusion in these sections. iuhpst – International Union of History, Philo-
sophy, Science, and Technology

dlmpst – Division of Logic, Mathematics, Philo-

Coming hps&st Related Confer-
sophy, Science, and Technology
ences
dhst – Division of History, Science, and Techno-
logy
July 11-16, 2021, Biennial meeting of the Interna-
tional Society for the History, Philosophy, and So- ihpst – International History, Philosophy, and
cial Studies of Biology, Milwaukee, WI Science Teaching Group
Details available here.
narst – National Association for Research in Sci-
July 19-23, 2021 ’Objects of Understanding: His- ence Teaching
torical Perspectives on Material Artefacts in Sci-
esera – European Science Education Research
ence Education’ will take place at the Europa-
Association
Universität Flensburg (Germany)
Details: Roland Wittje, [Link]@[Link] asera – Australasian Science Education Research
and here. Association

July 25-31, 2021, 26th International Congress icase – International Council of Associations for
of History of Science and Technology (dhst), Science Education
Prague. (web conference)
Information: [Link] unesco – Education

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hps&st newsletter april 2021

hss – History of Science Society The newsletter is typeset in XeLaTeX.

The font is Minion Pro.
eshs – European Society for the History of Science The cover image is used with permission from
[Link] free for commercial use.
aha – American History Association

isheastme – International Society for the History

of East Asian History of Science Technology and
Medicine

bshs – British Society for History of Science

epsa – European Philosophy of Science Associ-

ation

aahpsss - The Australasian Association for the

History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science

hopos – International Society for the History of

Philosophy of Science

psa – Philosophy of Science Association

bsps – The British Society for the Philosophy of

Science

spsp – The Society for Philosophy of Science in

Practice

ishpsb – The International Society for the His-

tory, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology

pes – The Philosophy of Education Society (USA)

The above list is updated and kept on the hps&st

website here.

hps&st-related organisations wishing their web

page to be added to the list should contact assistant
editor Paulo Maurício ([Link]@[Link])

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