"This is the first English-language collection of Simon Schaffer's essays, a representative selection that mixes well-known pieces with newer writings deserving of a larger readership. As an author, Schaffer is known for seminal essays on a variety of topics including Newton and the cultures of popular spectacle, nineteenth-century physics and its practices of labor discipline and standardization, the history of anthropology and collecting, and the globe-spanning cultural interactions that have shaped modern science. While Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Boyle, Hobbes, and the Experimental Life, which he co-authored with Steven Shapin, is rightly acknowledged as a classic, discipline-transforming book, the present collection should be seen as the other Schaffer book, and one which has been equally influential. The heart of it was written over several decades and, up until now, has only been available to those who tracked down Schaffer's work in a wide variety of international journals. With this collection, the huge scope and impact of Schaffer's writing becomes visible and accessible for the first time in a single place. Divided into five thematic sections, the Reader includes sixteen of Schaffer's articles, along with eight newly commissioned analytic essays that introduce Schaffer's pieces and highlight their lasting impact by bringing them into discussion with current scholarship. Each section takes up a timely issue, including the orientation toward global histories of science, the intersection of science and capitalism, the interaction between bodies and machines, and the connection between science, politics, and the environment. The book also includes several images and commentaries drawn from Schaffer's years-long collaborations with the artist Adam Lowe"-- Provided by publisher.
Collects key articles by Simon Schaffer, one of the most important historians of science working today.
Working Knowledge is the first English-language collection of essays by Simon Schaffer, coauthor of Leviathan and the Air-Pump, a landmark text in the history of science. Though the latter may be his most famous book, Schaffer is also renowned for seminal articles on Isaac Newton and the cultures of popular spectacle, nineteenth-century physics and its practices of labor discipline and standardization, the history of anthropology and collecting, and the globe-spanning cultural interactions that have shaped modern science. Working Knowledge compiles these well-known pieces alongside newer selections, making them accessible in a single place and representing the huge scope and impact of Schaffer’s oeuvre.
The Reader divides sixteen of Schaffer’s articles across five thematic sections, which take up timely issues like the turn toward global histories of science; the intersection of science and capitalism; the interaction between bodies and machines; and the connection between science, politics, and the environment. Eight new essays by notable historians such as Adrian Johns, Lissa Roberts, and Steven Shapin bring Schaffer’s pieces into discussion with current scholarship. Illustrations and brief commentaries by Schaffer and the artist Adam Lowe, a longtime collaborator, are included throughout the volume.
Bringing together essential articles that were previously scattered across several publications, Working Knowledge is an insightful introduction to Schaffer and his ever-relevant writing.
