Elena Aronova. Scientific History

This book is a graceful, compact, and compelling concoction of intertwined tales illuminating the emergence and development of the historical methodology it formulates as “scientific history.” Historian of science Elena Aronova operates on the basis of a far broader conception of the historical endeavor than we find in most traditional historiographies as she traces some of the unexpected, cascading intellectual connections among (for example) August Comte’s positivism, Henri Berr’s efforts to place the history of science at the core of human history, Nikolai Vavilov’s genetic approach, Soviet historian Mikhail Pokrovsky’s class-based “peoples’ history,” UNESCO’s “history by committee,” and David Christian’s (and Bill Gates’s) universal Big History. Highlighting some of the most inventive, adventurous historical analysis of the past century or so is her intent, as is providing a greater degree of global inclusivity in our accounting of twentieth-century contributions to the field of history. Aronova seeks also to integrate the overlooked contributions of the Soviet intelligentsia to the global historical conversation. Her book explores not only the intellectual connections among the creative strivings of these men but also the institutional and political contingencies that shaped their efforts. Scientific History would be a marvelous book for presentation to graduate students in order to spur the discussion, whither historiography? And thus, of course, whither the field of history? For this book solicits engagement and inquiry above all.

Ancient history · Comparative history · Conversation · Economic history · Historiography · Intellectual history · Intelligentsia · Political history · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · World history · Classics · Diverse Historical and Scientific Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · History of Science and Medicine · Law