On Machines, Self-Organization, and the Global Traveling of Knowledge, circa 1500-1900
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3226985 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karel Davids (0000-0003-1398-6123, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 866-874 |
| Publication date | 2015-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Isis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-1753 • E-ISSN: 1545-6994 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/684724 |
| PMID | 27024943 |
| OpenAlex | W2322696948 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 14 |
How and why does knowledge move from one place in the world to another? This is the key question of this contribution to the Focus section. The essay discusses a number of concepts concerning the global traveling of knowledge that are relevant for both preindustrial and industrial times. It proposes to modify and extend the metaphor of the "machine," introduced by James McClellan and François Regourd. Global traveling of knowledge was in historical reality often not only coordinated by "colonial" (or rather "imperial") machines but also by machines of a "commercial" or "religious" nature. Moreover, flows of knowledge could also be moved by forces from below, which may be analyzed by means of the concept of "self-organization." A range of examples illustrates that these concepts can be usefully applied in European as well as outer-European contexts
Colonialism · Epistemology · Focus (optics · Key (lock · Linguistics · Metaphor · Political science · Range (aeronautics · Section (typography · Sociology · Computer Science · Engineering · Historical Philosophy and Science · History of Science and Medicine · Law · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,25 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2020 (3) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |