History of science experts come to Edinburgh for landmark international conference
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The University of Edinburgh hosted a major international conference about the history of science, with 1,960 academics and students from across the globe coming to the city to discuss their latest and ongoing research and the field’s impact and emerging directions.
The History of Science Society and the European Society for the History of Science hosted their first joint meeting, in partnership with the University, the National Museum of Scotland, and the British Society for the History of Science.
Over five days, researchers and scholars from more than 30 countries took part in more than 500 workshops, lectures and exhibitions to explore the conference theme: Shifting Perspectives: Plural Worlds, Contested Sciences. The conference fostered transnational collaboration and dialogue among historians of science, technology and medicine.
Edinburgh provided an ideal setting for the conference, given its centuries-long leadership in scientific exploration, innovation and advancement, and the special place of history of science itself in the university’s scholarly traditions.
Events took place at the University’s central campus, the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, and the National Museum of Scotland.
Presentations spanned the breadth of current research, from ancient times to the present, from around the globe, and crossing the sciences, medicine, technology, and their contexts. There was special interest in the histories of crossing, travel, and exchange, including the histories of empire, colonialism, and slavery of particular relevance to Scotland’s history of science.
Dr Michael Barany, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at the University’s School of Social and Political Science, was the University lead for the conference. He worked with colleagues in the Science, Technology and Innovation Studies department, the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, the School of Mathematics, and the University Library, as well as partners at the National Museum.
Dr Barany said: “it was an exciting privilege to host so large and vibrant a meeting of historians of science, affirming Edinburgh’s place as a world centre for the field. Colleagues in Edinburgh and our international colleagues are buzzing with new connections and ideas that speak to many of the central concerns of science and society today.”
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