Science is never the work of any one individual. Its history is not a steady progression of successful discoveries. Its story involves as much perspiration as it does inspiration, counting a dozen failures for each success.
What drove pioneering scientists? Did they seek wisdom or wealth? Did they want to reveal nature or reform it? Were their insights brilliant or bizarre? And did they shape their world more than it shaped them?
In A History of Science, I explore the cultures, communities, and contexts in which these people gained their remarkable insights.
This podcast is produced infrequently by me, Dr Michiel Meulendijk. I am an information scientist and a history buff.
All that remains of the past is information; whether it be ruins, fossils, or manuscripts. History is the narrative we build interpreting that information.
