History and Philosophy of Western Science : From Antiquity to the 19th Century

How did we learn how to learn about the natural world? Across a set of three volumes spanning more than 2000 years of philosophical thinking in the West, this collection tells the story of invention and discovery.

Approaching the history and philosophy of science chronologically, the volumes total more than 1000 pages and bring together a team of over 50 experts to explore observations about the natural world. They chart the development of methods and disciplines alongside the appearance of new language, categories, mathematical models, and theories.

Each volume is overseen by its own specialist editor and divided into the same three Parts: I. Key Historical Developments, II. Philosophical Issues, and III: Social Issues and World Views. By situating the practice of philosophy and science in their cultural and social contexts, the essays place developments in cosmology, biology, experiment, experience, and theories of time, space, and matter in conversation with broader social issues, including women in early modern science, science and religion, the rise of research universities, and race.

Through this sustained reflection on the significance of historical events for scientific developments we see that centuries of advancements in the West have never simply been the work of individuals working in isolation. The story of the history and philosophy of science is one of communication, disagreement, and the accumulation of ideas, impacted by our wider culture and shaped by the world we live in.