Topic
Zilsel Thesis
About: Zilsel Thesis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4 publications have been published within this topic receiving 52 citations.
Papers
Book•
1 Nov 2011
TL;DR: Artisan/Practitioners as mentioned in this paper provides the historical background for a central issue in the history of science: the influence of artisans, craftsmen, and other practitioners on the emergent empirical methodologies that characterized the "new sciences" of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Abstract: This book provides the historical background for a central issue in the history of science: the influence of artisans, craftsmen, and other practitioners on the emergent empirical methodologies that characterized the "new sciences" of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Long offers a coherent account and critical revision of the "Zilsel thesis," an influential etiological narrative which argues that such craftsmen were instrumental in bringing about the "Scientific Revolution." "Artisan/Practitioners" reassesses the issue of artisanal influence from three different perspectives: the perceived relationships between art and nature; the Vitruvian architectural tradition with its appreciation of both theory and practice; and the development of "trading zones"--arenas in which artisans and learned men communicated in substantive ways. These complex social and intellectual developments, the book argues, underlay the development of the empirical sciences. This volume provides new discussion and synthesis of a theory that encompasses broad developments in European history and study of the natural world. It will be a valuable resource for college-level teaching, and for scholars and others interested in the history of science, late medieval and early modern European history, and the Scientific Revolution.
78 citations
1 Jan 2017
TL;DR: Cormack as discussed by the authors argues that historians need to take into account social, cultural, political and economic factors, rather than the simpler Marxist explanations of Zilsel, and argues that geography and mathematics allowed communication between theory and practice, provided new spaces for such exchanges, and changed attitudes towards mathematization, practicality and utility.
Abstract: This chapter challenges the traditional historiography of the scientific revolution, arguing that skilled artisans and mathematical practitioners were essential for a transformation of natural knowledge, the so-called ‘scholar-craftsman’ debate. Beginning with a new articulation of Edgar Zilsel’s thesis, which argued for an essential role for mathematical practitioners (or as he would have called them, “superior artisans”) in the scientific revolution, this chapter argues that historians need to take into account social, cultural, political and economic factors, rather than the simpler Marxist explanations of Zilsel. Cormack thus presents the case for the importance of social, economic, and cultural influences on the changing face of nature studies, particularly seeing the importance of mathematical practitioners in putting forward an agenda of utility, measurement, and inductive methodology. This is an argument for the important influence of both social factors and the practitioners themselves. Using English geography in the sixteenth century, and particularly the work of Edward Wright and Thomas Harriot, she argues that geography and mathematics allowed communication between theory and practice, provided new spaces for such exchanges, and changed attitudes towards mathematization, practicality and utility.
14 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the project on the social roots of science can be seen as a case-study substantiating the claim of the possibility of historical laws, and they indicate how these two manuscripts are related, and how they continue a research programme which Zilsel had developed in his earlier work.
Abstract: Edgar Zilsel (1891-1944), historian and philosopher of science, arrived in America with what he called 'two copious manuscripts': one on 'the Social Roots of Science'; the other on 'Natural and Historical Laws'. The first forms the basis for his historiographical essays written and published during World War II while in exile in America. These essays have given rise to the so-called 'Zilsel Thesis', which holds that modern science came into being in the 16th century when the social barriers between three strata of intellectuals - university scholars, humanists and superior artisans - eroded because of the rise of free enterprise capitalism. The transformation of their intellectual capacities melded into a culturally unique endeavour called science. The other manuscript addresses the possibility of finding socio-historical laws. In this introductory Comment, we indicate how these two manuscripts are related, and how they continue a research programme which Zilsel had developed in his earlier work. We argue that the project on the social roots of science can be seen as a case-study substantiating the claim of the possibility of historical laws.
12 citations
3 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2000 | 1 |