A new and comprehensive examination by over thirty internationally recognized scholars of the history of the modern physical and mathematical sciences. The authors examine contested traditions and startling innovations within a broad range of scientific fields which are nonetheless connected.



A narrative and interpretative history of the physical and mathematical sciences from the early nineteenth century to the close of the twentieth century. Drawing upon the most recent methods and results in historical studies of science, the authors of over thirty chapters employ strategies from intellectual history, social history, and cultural studies to provide unusually wide-ranging and comprehensive insights into developments in the public culture, disciplinary organization, and cognitive content of the physical and mathematical sciences. The sciences under study in the volume include physics, astronomy, chemistry and mathematics, as well as their extensions into geosciences and environmental sciences, computer science, and biomedical science. Scientific traditions and scientific changes are examined; the roles of instruments, languages, and images in everyday practice are analyzed; the theme of scientific 'revolution' is scrutinized; and the interactions of the sciences with literature, religion, and ideology are examined.