Global history of science as a knowledge resource for the Anthropocene

Abstract

Non-technical summary The article addresses the role of science in the present global ecological crisis, both as a factor in bringing it about and as a means to confront it. It is argued that the history of science, pursued in a global and long-term perspective, is an important knowledge resource for understanding the development of science in society. Pivotal episodes from that history, ranging from the origin of science in antiquity via the early modern scientific revolution to recent developments in industrial societies, are discussed with a particular emphasis on the case of China and with a view to the present crisis. Technical summary In this contribution, examples from the global, long-term history of science are used to illustrate characteristics of the historical development of science that are considered important in the context of the question of the role of science in the Anthropocene. In particular, it is argued that certain central features of modern science, such as its production of surplus knowledge (i.e., knowledge not immediately useful for the material reproduction of society) and the crucial role of technology in the scientific experience of nature, are actually very ancient in origin and, contrary to widespread views, not at all essentially ‘Western’. The comparison of different origins of science in antiquity reveals cross-cultural similarities as well as culture-dependent variations that suggest the existence of alternatives in the development of science from early on. Further emphasis is put on the fundamental role of the societal embedding of science and the force of path dependence in the historical development of science. The paper concludes with a few preliminary thoughts and questions on what these findings tell us about the necessary transformations of science in the Anthropocene and how they can be brought about. Social media summary The global history of science is argued to provide an important knowledge resource for the Anthropocene.