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History of Science

Proposed Q&A site for researchers and students of History of Science, Sociology of Science, STS and so forth. A place to get the context of scientific discoveries: The way they were achieved, the influence they had on the society and the way the were impacted by it.
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<comment removed> If you have any questions or comments for this proposal, please use 'create new discussion' below. – Robert Cartaino♦ May 7 '12 at 14:40

5
votes
1
answer

Broaden to “metascience”?

may 11 at 21:23 Logan M 1,140
4
votes
0
answers

Why would a SE site called “history of science” cover sociology of science?

oct 30 at 21:46 DBK 151

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24 Example Questions

active oldest votes
up vote 13 down vote
What happened to the technology that created the Antikythera Mechanism? Why didn't it developed further?
added by yossale May 6 '12 at 8:52
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up vote 12 down vote
Why is Louis Pasteur such a "Celebrity" even though others have had the same ideas earlier?
added by yossale May 6 '12 at 8:50
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up vote 10 down vote
What are the key differences in focus between internalist and externalist approaches to the history of science?
added by Trevor Owens May 8 '12 at 13:52
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up vote 10 down vote
To what extent does current historiography of science support the major theses in Khun's Structure of Scientific Revolutions?
added by Trevor Owens May 8 '12 at 13:56
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up vote 10 down vote
How has historical research on Einstein and his contributions to science changed in the last fifty years?
added by Trevor Owens May 8 '12 at 13:58
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up vote 10 down vote
Historically, what are the differences in method and practice between alchemy and chemistry?
added by Nicol Bolas May 10 '12 at 2:28
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up vote 10 down vote
How and why did natural philosophy change to be called science?
added by Trevor Owens May 18 '12 at 20:43
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up vote 10 down vote
When continental drift was first proposed, the idea was dismissed. Now, plate tectonics is mainstream. How did it become accepted?
added by David Gorsline May 23 '12 at 15:41
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It is an almost painful story, but an excellent question. – ernestopheles Dec 12 '12 at 17:46
up vote 10 down vote
Into the 19th century, it was possible to practice physical science without a degree. Now, a Ph.D. is necessary for credibility. What changed?
added by David Gorsline May 23 '12 at 15:44
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Is it? It certainly helps, but plenty of papers are written, or co-written by students. Perhaps there's a good question there! – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 12:39
up vote 8 down vote
How does math that begins with no apparent application (e.g., imaginary numbers) become transformed into an explanation for observable phenomena?
added by David Gorsline May 23 '12 at 15:48
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This is a really a philosophy of science question. I think this question is interesting in relation to the history of science, but then it is a question in HPS, which is not really covered by the present proposal. – DBK Oct 30 '12 at 21:32
1  
@DBK: see my discussion on this proposal :) – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 7:25
Also, WTF? Complex numbers are used more in electrical engineering than in most sciences. Clearly they have a broad application. – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 8:47
1  
That's the point of the question, that complex numbers have found wide applicability. Perhaps my edit of the question makes the the idea clearer. – David Gorsline Nov 30 '12 at 1:09
There's also a bunch of great history here. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_calculus. I'd claim that at least one application (solving differential equations by converting them to algebraic equations) was in use for years before it was mathematically justified (through Laplace transforms). – Wandering Logic May 15 at 20:40
up vote 7 down vote
The Antikythera mechanism existed from around 150 BC. Why didn't the technology that created it become prominent in the Roman empire?
added by yossale, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 9 '12 at 18:13
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up vote 6 down vote
What significant advancements did the Nazis and Imperial Japanese make in science during and before WWII other than cancer research?
added by boulder_ruby May 23 '12 at 16:26
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up vote 5 down vote
Did any major physicist of the 18th century address the "Problem of Induction" in their work?
added by M Turgeon May 15 '12 at 18:19
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I don't understand why "major physicist" and "18th century" are relevant. How about rephrasing as "Was the Problem of Induction in physics ever addressed before the 19th century?" – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 9:30
@naught101 Certainly, "major" could be remove. On the other hand, the Problem of Induction comes up in the work of 18th century philosphers, like Hume and later Kant, and this is why 18th century is relevant. – M Turgeon Nov 16 '12 at 13:25
up vote 5 down vote
What do we know about the role of intuition (Kekulé's dream about benzene, Poincaré stepping onto a bus and Fuchsian functions) in making discoveries?
added by David Gorsline May 23 '12 at 15:53
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This is potentially an awsesome question, but it is far to broad to be answered as-is. You could write a textbook in answer to this question. Maybe it could be pared down somehow? – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 9:28
up vote 3 down vote
Who discovered ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)?
added by TomD May 19 '12 at 11:27
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up vote 3 down vote
When was Carbon-14 first synthesized, and by whom?
added by TomD May 19 '12 at 11:33
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up vote 3 down vote
The first synthetic dyes: when, how, and in what context?
added by LanceLafontaine Jul 21 '12 at 19:03
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up vote 3 down vote
Were there any common mechanisms for verification and regulation of science before peer review became widespread?
added by naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 12:44
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up vote 2 down vote
How close was Poincaré to our modern understanding of special relativity?
added by Logan M May 11 at 0:23
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up vote 1 down vote
Since when does lighting engineering as a field of science exist?
added by Openmedi Jul 6 '12 at 13:23
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up vote 1 down vote
How well supported is Paul Feyerabend's anarchistic view of science?
added by naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 12:32
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up vote 1 down vote
Are there any alternative scientific conceptions of knowledge that don't rely on induction?
added by naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 12:49
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up vote 0 down vote
Gamification has been shown to work well for sites like StackExchange. Have there been any attempts to apply this principle to peer review?
added by naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 8:44
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Note: This question clearly does not fit within a "history of science" SE, but it clearly does fit within a metascience or HPS SE. Please read and vote on the two discussions at the top of the page before voting here. – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 8:46
up vote 0 down vote
Does the "People's History" view of science (e.g. Clifford Connor) disaffirm the concept of Multiple Discovery?
added by naught101 Dec 22 '12 at 0:27
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yossale
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