Radick, G (2016) Presidential address: Experimenting with the scientific past. British Journal for the History of Science, 49 (2). pp. 153-172. ISSN 0007-0874
Abstract
When it comes to knowledge about the scientific pasts that might have been – the so-called ‘counterfactual’ history of science – historians can either debate its possibility or get on with the job. Taking the latter course means re-engaging with some of the most general questions about science. It can also lead to fresh insights into why particular episodes unfolded as they did and not otherwise. Drawing on recent research into the controversy over Mendelism in the early twentieth century, this address reports and reflects on a novel teaching experiment conducted in order to find out what biology and its students might be like now had the controversy gone differently. The results suggest a number of new options: for the collection of evidence about the counterfactual scientific past, for the development of collaborations between historians of science and science educators, for the cultivation of more productive relationships between scientists and their forebears, and for heightened self-awareness about the curiously counterfactual business of being historical.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 British Society for the History of Science. This is an author produced version of a paper published in British Journal for the History of Science. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number British Academy SG-44032 Arts & Humanities Research Council AHRC AH/E00802X/1 White Rose Univ Consortium *do not use* NONE GIVEN British Academy MD130016 John Templeton Foundation (US) TWCF 0025/UAB 012 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Apr 2016 15:22 |
Last Modified: | 16 Jan 2018 03:08 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007087416000339 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0007087416000339 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:98570 |