The Routledge History of American Science

The Routledge History of American Science provides an essential companion to the most significant themes within the subject area.
The field of the history of science continues to grow and expand into new areas and to adopt new theories to explain the role of science and its connections to politics, economics, religion, social structures, intellectual history, and art. This book takes North America as its focus and explores the history of science in the region both nationally and internationally with 27 chapters from a range of disciplines. Part I takes a chronological look at the history of science in America, from its origins in the Atlantic World, through to the American Revolution, the Civil War, the World Wars, and ending in the postmodern era. Part II discusses American science in practice, from scientists as practitioners, laboratories and field experiences, to science and religion. Part III examines the relationship between science and power. The chapters touch on the intersection of science and imperialism, environmental science in U.S. politics, as well as capitalism and science. Finally, Part IV explores how science is embedded in the culture of the United States with topics such as the growing importance of climate science, the role of scientific racism, the construction of gender, and how science and disability studies converge. The final chapter reviews the way in which society has embraced or rejected science, with reflections on the recent pandemic and what it may mean for the future of American science.
This book fills a much-needed gap in the history and historiography of American science studies and will be an invaluable guide for any student or researcher in the history of science in America.

Timothy W. Kneeland is Professor of history and politics at Nazareth College. He is the author of Declaring Disaster: Buffalo's Blizzard of '77 and the Creation of FEMA (2021), Playing Politics with Natural Disaster: Hurricane Agnes, the 1972 Election, and the Origins of FEMA (2020), and Pushbutton Psychiatry: A Cultural History of Electroshock in America (2008).

0. Introduction PART I: The History of American Science 1. Science and the Atlantic World 2. Science in the American Revolution 3. Science in the Early Republic 4. Science in the Antebellum South 5. Science in the Civil War and Reconstruction 6. Science in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 7. Science From World War I to World War II 8. Science in the Cold War 9. Science in the Postmodern Era PART II: American Science in Practice 10. Social Studies of Science 11. Laboratories and Field Experiences 12. Science and Instrumentation 13. Science and History 14. Science and Religion 15. Science and the Social Sciences PART III: American Science and Power 16. Science and U.S. Imperialism 17. Science and the Military 18. Science, Technocracy, and Public Policy in the U.S 19. Environmental Science and Politics in the U.S. 20. Capitalism and Science PART IV: American Science and Society 21. Climate Science 22. Structural Racism in U.S. Science 23. Gender and Science 24. Science and Disability Studies 25. Genetics in American Science 26. Science and Speciesism 27. Science in American Life