ABSTRACT

Science and Nature brings together the work and insights of historian Carolyn Merchant on the history of science, environmental history, and ethics. The book explores her ideas about the interconnections among science, women, nature, and history as they have emerged over her academic lifetime. Focusing on topics such as "The Death of Nature," the Scientific Revolution, women in the history of science and environment, and partnership ethics, it synthesizes her writings and sets out a vision for the twenty-first century. Anyone interested in the interactions between science and nature in the past, present, and future will want to read this book. It is an ideal text for courses on the environment, environmental history, history of science, and the philosophy of science.

chapter

Introduction

A Look Back*

part I|56 pages

The Scientific Revolution

chapter 1|18 pages

The Death of Nature*

chapter 2|16 pages

Francis Bacon*

chapter 3|19 pages

Isis Consciousness Raised*

part II|72 pages

On Energy and Momentum

chapter 4|20 pages

Leibniz*

chapter 5|38 pages

Newton*

chapter 6|11 pages

D’Alembert*

part III|54 pages

Women and the Scientific Revolution

chapter 7|16 pages

Margaret Cavendish*

chapter 8|13 pages

Anne Conway*

chapter 9|21 pages

Emilie du Châtelet*

part IV|42 pages

Ecology and Conservation

chapter 10|14 pages

Ecological Revolutions*

chapter 11|18 pages

Shades of Darkness*

Race and Environmental History

chapter 12|7 pages

Restoring Nature*

part V|43 pages

Environmental Ethics

chapter 13|13 pages

Is it Time for an Earth Ethic?*

chapter 14|11 pages

Ecofeminism and Feminist Theory*

chapter 15|14 pages

Partnership Ethics*

part VI|24 pages

Conclusion

chapter |13 pages

Conclusion*

Science for the Twenty-First Century

chapter |7 pages

Epilogue

Can Science Know Nature?