Organized by Zhihui CHEN (SAW, Paris 7 Diderot,
France), Jiří Hudeček (Charles University, Prague, Czech
Republic) and Martina R. Schneider (SAW, Paris 7 Diderot,
France; University of Mainz, Germany)
It is well known that history of science played and
continues to play an important role in the processes of nation
building. For example, histories of the sciences in Germany were
published exactly at the time when the German nation state came
into being. However, there are also various other ways how state
and history of science interact with each other. This is
illustrated by the fact that the history of the mathematical
sciences was part of the topics to be studied for a state
examination to become civil servant in late imperial China for a
short period of time. This is
likewise illustrated by how in the context of the
professionalization of the history of science in Republican and
People’s Republican eras of China, the history of mathematics
and the history of astronomy became entangled with political
power.
These examples point to a larger issue at stake, namely
the power (and/or powerlessness) of the historiography of
science in general. What kind of powers, real or
(self-)ascribed, do the historians and the histories of science
have? In what way do the actors themselves perceive and reflect
upon matters of power? How are these issues reflected in how
they carry out research and write about the history of science?
How can their impact be detected, e.g., in the shaping of
certain narratives, in the promotion of specific topics of
discussion and methodologies, and in mobilizing research
resources? The power of the history of science can probably best
be captured in contexts in which alternative historiographies
exist. One might, for instance, inquire into the dynamics
between the centers and margins of historiography of science.
One might also analyze how alternative counter-histories change
the historical discourse.
-- Martina R. Schneider ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ AG für Geschichte der Mathematik und der Naturwissenschaften Institut für Mathematik Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz Staudinger Weg 9 55099 Mainz Germany Tel:+49-6131-3922439 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++