Simon Schaffer

Simon Schaffer during a summer academy in St. Petersburg, Russia (2001)

Simon Schaffer (born January 1, 1955 in Southampton ) is a British historian of science. He teaches history of science ( history of science ), and philosophy of science at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Cambridge .

life and work

Schaffer was born in Southampton but lived in Australia with his parents for a few years as a child. After attending the Varndean Grammar School for Boys (now Varndean College ) in Brighton , he studied at Trinity College and on a Kennedy scholarship at Harvard . He initially taught at Imperial College London and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) before moving to Cambridge University as a professor. He has been a fellow at Darwin College since 1985 . Schaffer was intermittent co-editor of The British Journal for the History of Science . In addition to research and teaching in Cambridge, he works as a moderator of science programs, e. B. 2004 on BBC Four in the four-part documentary Light Fantastic about the scientific exploration of light.

Together with Steven Shapin , Schaffer wrote the 1985 work Leviathan and the Air-Pump : Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life , for which the two science historians were awarded the Erasmus Prize in 2005. Schaffer and Shapin trace the conflict between Thomas Hobbes and Robert Boyle about their scientific methodology and the relationship between state power and science. The two historians take the position that Boyle enforced his scientific position on the air pump with the help of the Royal Society . That is why Schaffer and Shapin were assigned to the Strong Program of the Sociology of Science , which perceives the production of “hard” scientific knowledge as a social construction and examines it accordingly. In the scientific controversy that followed the publication of Leviathan and the Air-Pump , the following points of criticism were formulated:

• The conflict in the relationship between Hobbes and Boyle was given too high priority by Shapin and Schaffer
• the authors' point of view is limited to England; they do not take into account the conditions in continental Europe in the 17th century
• many of Shapin and Schaffer's conclusions are imprecise and based on an out-of-date understanding of Boyle's research
• the passages about Hobbes are riddled with serious errors and mistakes, and crucial quotations are incorrect

For 2013 Schaffer was awarded the George Sarton Medal of the History of Science Society (HSS), for 2017 the Paul Bunge Prize of the Society of German Chemists . In 2018 he received the Dan David Prize .

Publications (selection)

• Steven Shapin / Simon Schaffer: Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life . Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 1985. ISBN 978-0-691-15020-8 (reprint)
• Co-editor of: The brokered world. Go-betweens and global intelligence 1770-1820 . Science History Publications, Sagamore Beach, MA 2009. ISBN 978-0-88135-374-7

In German language:

• OK computer . P. 393-429 in: Michael Hagner (Ed.): Views of the history of science . S. Fischer, Frankfurt / M. 2001. ISBN 978-3-596-15261-2
• The range of experimental sciences: models, microstories, microcosms . In: Historical Anthropology: Culture, Society, Everyday Life. Böhlau, Cologne 2005, Vol. 13, H. 3, pp. 343-366. ISSN  0942-8704
• Heavenly Powers . In: Imagery of Knowledge. Art history yearbook for visual criticism. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2007. Vol. 5, Issue 2, pp. 40-49. ISSN  1611-2512

Individual evidence

1. ^ The British Journal for the History of Science (last checked on March 24, 2012)
2. ↑ available on YouTube in 8 parts: Light Fantastic (last checked on March 24, 2012)
3. ↑ CL Pinnick: "What's Wrong with the Strong Program's Case Study of the 'Hobbes-Boyle Dispute'?". Pp. 227-239 in: N. Koertge (Ed.): A House Built on Sand. Exposing Postmodernist Myths about Science . Oxford University Press, New York 1998. ISBN 978-0-19-511726-4
4. ↑ John Heilbron : Review of Leviathan and the air-pump , PMC 1035825 (free full text)
5. ↑ Lawrence M. Principe: The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest . Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2000. ISBN 978-0-691-05082-9
6. ↑ Frank Horstmann: Leviathan and the Erpumper. Memories of Thomas Hobbes in the air pump. Mackensen, Berlin 2012. ISBN 978-3-926535-52-8

Web links

• Simon Schaffer's webpage in Cambridge (last checked on March 23, 2012)
• Alan Macfarlane, anthropologist at King's College (Cambridge) : Interview with Simon Schaffer on June 27, July 1 and July 2, 2008 (4 parts in English about Schaffer's biography and academic career; last checked on March 23, 2012)
• Ideas: How to Think about Science . Radio interview with Schaffer on January 2, 2009 about his research method (as a podcast in English on CBC / Radio-Canada ; last checked on March 23, 2012)
• Newton on the Beach: Principia Mathematica : Schaffer talks about Isaac Newton 's fascination with ancient Indian philosophy and the global information network that Newton wasable to drawon for his Principia Mathematica ( Harry Camp Memorial Lecture 2008 , in English; last checked on 23. March 2012)
• When the stars threw down their spears: Histories of Astronomy and Empire ( Tarner Lectures 2010 at Trinity College, Cambridge, 4 lectures by Schaffer in English; last checked on March 23, 2012)
• Our students are not customers : Interview in German by Klaus Taschwer with Simon Schaffer on the topic of university rankingsin Der Standard , Vienna on January 17, 2012 (last checked on March 23, 2012)