Volume 5 is a narrative and interpretive history of the physicl and mathematical sciences from the early nineteenth century to the close of the twentieth century. The contributing authors are world leaders in their respective specialties. Drawing upon the most recent methods and results in historical studies of science, they employ strategies from intellectual history, social history, and cultural studies to provide unusually wide - ranging and comprehensive insights into developments in the public culture, disciplinary organization, and cognitive content of the physical and mathematical sciences.
The sciences under study in this volume include physics, astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics, as well as their extensions into geosciences and environmental sciences, computer science, and biomedical science. The authors examine scientific traditions and scientific developments; analyze the roles of instruments, languages, and images in everyday practice; scrutinize the theme of scientific ''revolution'' ; and examine the interactions of the sciences with literature, religion, and ideology.
Part 1 The Public Cultures of The Physical Sciences After 1800
Part 2 Discipline Building In The Sciences: Places, Instruments, Communication
Part 3 Chemistry And Physics: Problems Through The Early 1900s
Part 4 Atomin And Molecular Sciences In The Twentieth Century
Part 5 Mathematics, Astronomy, And Cosmology Since The Eighteenth Century
Part 6 Problems And Promises At The End Of The Twentieth Century