Abstract
For historians of science, the question of how to write about ‘heroes’ in science is related to other methodological questions: What is science? What is ‘good’ science and therefore a ‘good’ scientist? What phenomena are worthy of study? What is the relationship between an individual and his or her context? The issue of ‘heroes’ specifically occasioned a watershed between many early twentieth-century historians of science and earlier generations of (lay) historians. Reijer Hooykaas (1906-1994) was among this new generation of historians. I describe and explain the changing ways in which, broadly speaking, twentieth-century historians of science have conceived of ‘heroes’ in science. I use Hooykaas as a looking glass through which to describe the broader historiographical developments.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Nobel Genius |
Subtitle of host publication | Prizes, Prestige and Scientific Practice |
Editors | Nils Hansson, Ad Maas |
Publisher | Leiden University Press |
Chapter | 6 |
Pages | 115-140 |
Number of pages | 26 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9789400604582 |
ISBN (Print) | 9789087284138 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2024 |
Keywords
- Reijer Hooykaas
- history of science