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The Scientific Revolution (science * culture) | 
 enlarge | Author: Steven Shapin
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy Used: $6.89
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 49720
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 232
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 0226750213
Dewey Decimal Number: 509
EAN: 9780226750217
ASIN: 0226750213
Publication Date: 1998
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Amazon.com Review
In the last ten years, a new school of sociology has grown up that sees science as not only relativistic but as a purely human construct; that ties scientists' findings about "nature" to their standing in the cultural and political milieu of which they are a part. Steven Shapin adds to this revisionist literature with a fascinating, paradoxical book that at once questions our notions of the scientific revolution of the last century and deepens our understanding of it. Shapin examines four themes in the history of modern science: mechanism (the idea of nature as a machine); objectivism; methodology and impartiality; and altruism (the idea that science can better the lot of mankind). He does so in three deft, incisive sections: "What Was Known?"; "How Was It Known?"; and "What Was the Knowledge For?" This excellent study, written for the layman, explains how the scientists' world shaped their knowledge of the natural world.
Product Description
"There was no such thing as the Scientific Revolution, and this is a book about it." With this provocative and apparently paradoxical claim, Steven Shapin begins his bold vibrant exploration of the origins of the modern scientific worldview.
"Shapin's account is informed, nuanced, and articulated with clarity. . . . This is not to attack or devalue science but to reveal its richness as the human endeavor that it most surely is. . . .Shapin's book is an impressive achievement."—David C. Lindberg, Science
"Shapin has used the crucial 17th century as a platform for presenting the power of science-studies approaches. At the same time, he has presented the period in fresh perspective."—Chronicle of Higher Education
"Timely and highly readable . . . A book which every scientist curious about our predecessors should read."—Trevor Pinch, New Scientist
"It's hard to believe that there could be a more accessible, informed or concise account of how it [the scientific revolution], and we have come to this. The Scientific Revolution should be a set text in all the disciplines. And in all the indisciplines, too."—Adam Phillips, London Review of Books
"Shapin's treatise on the currents that engendered modern science is a combination of history and philosophy of science for the interested and educated layperson."—Publishers Weekly
"Superlative, accessible, and engaging. . . . Absolute must-reading."—Robert S. Frey, Bridges
"This vibrant historical exploration of the origins of modern science argues that in the 1600s science emerged from a variety of beliefs, practices, and influences. . . . This history reminds us that diversity is part of any intellectual endeavor."—Choice
"Most readers will conclude that there was indeed something dramatic enough to be called the Scientific Revolution going on, and that this is an excellent book about it."—Anthony Gottlieb, The New York Times Book Review
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 well done! June 11, 2007
Perhaps the best, concise review by an established scholar. Worth it for the first chapter alone, which reviews the intellectual background and the philosophy of the revolution.
 High hopes - not fulfilled May 18, 2005
2 out of 21 found this review helpful
I was really looking forward to reading this book after several warm recommendations, but I was sadly disappointed. The contents was reasonable giving, but the language and the presentation...
I give it..
4 for contents,
2 for language and grammar,
2 for presentation and structure.
Hmmm. 8 divided by 3 is... 2.6. No, that's more than it deserves.
 Decent Introductory Text March 22, 2004
10 out of 20 found this review helpful
The Scientific Revolution represented a profound change in the way that we try to understand nature. The influence of science today, and its prestite, is pervasive. So this is an interesting topic. But Shapin's book is only an introduction. You'll get some names (Boyle, Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, Newton) and some interesting quotes and summaries of their thought. The issues of experiment, measurement and mathematization are treated. But none of it is in much depth. You won't learn any of the specifics of Copernicus, Galileo or Newton. If this is your first intro to the subject, it's fine. But for someone like me who already has somewhat of a background, most of this was stuff I already knew. It's well written, easy to read and has somewhat of a critical perspective, which is nice. But it's somewhat superficial and shallow. But it serves it purpose, I suppose. Greg Feirman (gfire77@yahoo.com)
The Scientific Revolution changed how we see the world December 3, 2001
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
I am amazed by the review written by the reader from Sydney. This book does not pretend to give a chronological narrative of who did what when in the making of modern science. There are many books that do that job. Instead, Shapin is interested in what difference the Scientific Revolution made to how people at the time, and how we, think about the natural world. The major changes may have been the new idea that nature could be investigated and understood, not merely regarded with awe and fear; that careful, repeatable experiments could yield information about how nature works; and that this new approach to nature changed how human beings regarded our relation to the natural world and our place in it. If nature is something that we can explore and understand, then we have a new power; we are no longer on a par with the natural world, because we can see into it. The ways in which knowledge is acquired, or made, and why it matters that we pursue and develop this knowledge are part of Shapin's central theme. These are not small questions, and to my mind they are addressed elegantly in this short but very substantial book.
 Terrible June 21, 2001
15 out of 43 found this review helpful
If you are looking for an account of the complex chain of events, discoveries and philosophies leading to the emergence of the modern scientific worldview, this is the wrong book. It is heavily influenced by post-modernist views, whereas science is seen as a "discourse" no more or less valid than "alternative" modes of knowledge. Since this is plainly incorrect, the book fits the facts to the Procustean bed of "theory" to support its thesis. For instance, never is the book is the development of Calculus mentioned, clearly an essential step in the development of classical mechanics and the foundation of most modern scientific theories. The same may be said for countless other developments which are cavalierly ignored. There was a scientific revolution and its effects are all around us, including the medium on which this review is written.
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