Imperialism and Science: Social Impact and Interaction

(Hardback)

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A unique resource that synthesizes existing primary and secondary sources to provide a fascinating introduction to the development and dissemination of science within history's great empires, as well as the complex interaction between imperialism and scientific progress over two centuries. From alchemy to the atom bomb, from penicillin to poison gas, the proliferation of Western science throughout the colonial world was driven by imperial imperatives. In 19th-century Greece, science was seen as a weapon in the independence struggle, while America's transformation from colony to superpower can largely be attributed to its enthusiastic embrace of science and technology. Imperialism and Science is a scholarly yet accessible chronicle of the impact of imperialism on science over the past 200 years, from the effect of Catholicism on scientific progress in Latin America to the importance of U.S. government funding of scientific research to America's preeminent place in the world. Spanning two centuries of scientific advance throughout the age of empire, Imperialism and Science sheds new light on the spread of scientific thought throughout the former colonial world. Science made enormous advances during this period, often being associated with anti-Imperialist struggle or, as in the case of the science brought to 19th-century China and India by the British, with Western cultural hegemony.

Reviews

"College-level audiences seeking references in science and political history will welcome Imperialism and Science... Its revelations and insights are important for understanding the paths, progress, and international influences upon the scientific community as a whole, so college-level holdings shouldn't be without it." - Midwest Book Review

Author Bio

George N. Vlahakis, PhD, is fellow researcher at the Institute of Neohellenic Research/National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens, Greece and teaches history of Greek philosophy and science at the Greek Open University, Patra, Greece. His published works include History and Philosophy of Sciences in the Greek-Speaking Lands. Isabel Maria Malaquias teaches history of physics in the Department of Physics, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal. Nathan M. Brooks is associate professor in the Department of History, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM. Francois Regourd is Maitre de Conferences in modern history at the University of Paris X-Nanterre, Paris, France. Feza Gunergun is professor of history of science at Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. David Wright, PhD, teaches chemistry at Kendrick School in Reading, UK.