Servants of Nature: A History of Scientific Institutions, Enterprises, and Sensibilities (Norton History of Science) - Softcover

Major scientific advances stem from changes in three distinct areas: the social institutions that promote science, the sensibilities of scientists themselves and the goal of the scientific enterprise. Examining the institutions that have shaped science: the academies of Ancient Greece, universities, the growth of museums of science, technology and natural history, botanical and zoological gardens, and the advent of modern specialised research laboratories, 'Servants of Nature' also analyses changing scientific sensibilities through time – such as the relationship between religion and science or the interplay between the growth of democracy and the growth of scientific knowledge. This acclaimed book covers the changing nature of scientific enterprise and considers how the goals of science have evolved, giving an indispensable account of how science, perhaps above all other human endeavours, has shaped, and been shaped by, the world we inhabit today.

'A cabinet of wonders, a kaleidoscope of historical instances, its scope ranging from early Islamic and Chinese Observatories to the evolution of the German doctoral system and the reception of Einstein's theories in India…extraordinary and very readable.'
CASPAR HENDERSON, 'New Scientist'

'A wide-ranging, useful and erudite compendium – a valuable work of reference.'
ANTHONY DANIELS, 'Sunday Telegraph'

Lewis Pyenson and Susan Sheets-Pyenson are a husband-and-wife team from Louisiana.
Susan Sheets-Pyenson is Associate Professor of History at the University of Southwestern Louisiana.
Lewis Pyenson is Professor of History and Mathematics, and Dean of the Graduate School, at the University of Southwestern Louisiana.