By: Dominick Mellusi

Dominick Mellusi — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 14:28:00 +0000

Thanks for your review Laszlo! I always appreciate your descriptions of our authors’ backgrounds, as it is very detailed. I believe this is the first author we have had in the class who is primarily a historian of science. You do a good job of pointing out the main themes that the author was hoping to emphasize. It seems that the Simon Werrett in Thrifty Science wants to emphasize the fact that scientific instruments, just as the rooms in homes as you point out were not used for specific purposes, but were instead ever adapting. This would change with the Great Transition, and so we see the further developments of early science to modern science happening within the pages of this book. In other words, the transition from oeconomic science to economic science. When you summarize the ways different people used different scientific instruments in thrifty ways (this traits could include creativity and durability) it brings up previous questions we have discussed in class such as, Is one a scientist if one merely participates in science?I like how you point out the difference in complexity between scientific instruments in this era and the modern day using specific examples such as the Hubble telescope. Your discussion of the author’s lack of the use of the word “science” is my favorite part of your review. Hopefully we can explore this further in class. I suspect you might be correct that the author is trying to avoid confusing reader by decisively defining what science is. One thing we have learned from these many readings is that the topic we have been discussing is an ever changing concept. Thanks again for the review.

Comments on: A review of Thrifty Science: Making the Most of Materials in the History of Experiment by Simon Werrett

By: Dominick Mellusi