Papers in this roundtable explore the nature of “Early Science” as a term and a discipline that is ultimately defined and limited by its chronological boundaries, while at the same time wide-ranging in its scope. What exactly do we mean by Early Science? How early – and conversely how late – is early science? To what extent does this terminology impose a teleological view of the history of science, by implicitly assuming that there was a before and an after (and before what exactly)? Does the term facilitate or actually prevent historians of science from welcoming the rich variety of understandings that characterizes human relationships with nature, not only in Western traditions but also across the globe?
Presenters on the roundtable will engage with the chronology of early science from a range of disciplinary perspectives and with attention to the importance of interrogating periodization from locations across the globe.
