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A tradition from the ancestors.

James A Secord1

  • 1Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

British Journal for the History of Science
|March 28, 2025
PubMed
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The history of science is shifting from a Eurocentric view to a global perspective. This transformation reveals science

Area of Science:

  • History of Science
  • Global Science Studies

Background:

  • The field of history of science is transitioning from a European focus to a worldwide scope.
  • Post-WWII scholarship emphasized Western science's inevitable progress and global role.
  • Cultural history and laboratory ethnographies since the 1970s challenged this view.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the historical shift towards a global perspective in the history of science.
  • To examine how local and contingent processes, rather than inherent power, shape scientific practices worldwide.
  • To understand the implications of this broadening scope for the field's aims and its relationship with universalizing scientific goals.

Main Methods:

  • Historical analysis of scholarly trends in the history of science.
  • Examination of theoretical shifts, including the influence of cultural history and laboratory ethnographies.

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  • Comparative study of scientific practices across diverse global contexts (e.g., West Africa, American heartland).

    • Main Results:

    • The current global scope of the history of science is a long-delayed outcome of decades of development.
    • Scientific power is understood as a product of local, contingent processes, not inherent superiority.
    • Symmetrical analysis is required for diverse practices, from economics and divination to particle physics.

    Conclusions:

    • The history of science is undergoing a necessary global transformation, moving beyond a Eurocentric viewpoint.
    • Understanding science globally requires acknowledging the local and contingent nature of its practices.
    • The field's global aims increasingly resonate with, yet also critique, the universalizing tendencies of natural and social sciences.