Science and Technology in World History – An Introduction 2e - Softcover

Mcclellan, James E; Dorn, Harold

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801883601 ISBN 13: 9780801883606

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006

Synopsis

Now in its second edition, this bestselling textbook may be the single most influential study of the historical relationship between science and technology ever published. Tracing this relationship from the dawn of civilization through the twentieth century, James E. McClellan III and Harold Dorn argue that technology as "applied science" emerged relatively recently, as industry and governments began funding scientific research that would lead directly to new or improved technologies.

McClellan and Dorn identify two great scientific traditions: the useful sciences, patronized by the state from the dawn of civilization, and scientific theorizing, initiated by the ancient Greeks. They find that scientific traditions took root in China, India, and Central and South America, as well as in a series of Near Eastern empires, during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. From this comparative perspective, the authors explore the emergence of Europe and the United States as a scientific and technological power.

The new edition reorganizes its treatment of Greek science and significantly expands its coverage of industrial civilization and contemporary science and technology with new and revised chapters devoted to applied science, the sociology and economics of science, globalization, and the technological systems that underpin everyday life.

About this title

Product Description

Title: Science and Technology in World History( An Introduction) <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: JamesE.McClellan <>Publisher: JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress

Review

This historical account achieves its basic aim of demonstrating that, with the exception of quite recent history, technology has always influenced science, not the other way round.

(Nature)

If I could attach bells and whistles and flashing lights to this review I would do so because McClellan and Dorn's book deserves to be brought to the attention of all professional historians―and indeed the general reading public―by any means necessary.

(Canadian Journal of History/Annales canadiennes d'histoire)

Inclusive and straightforward.

(Technology and Culture)

This is one of few books that tackle both the history of science and the history of technology, and most notably presents them in a global context.

(Suzanne Moon, Colorado School of Mines)

This unusual work enables students to understand some large-scale patterns in history and the ways in which investigations into nature fit into those patterns.

(Barbara J. Reeves, Virginia Tech)

Edition details

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0801883601
• ISBN 13: 9780801883606
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 464