ABSTRACT
During the course of the twentieth century, scholarship became increasingly reflexive. Beginning with an increasing preoccupation with the general history of scientific endeavour during the first half of the century, there developed a growing interest in the history of individual disciplines during the second half of the century. From disciplines writing accounts of their own history, there emerged during the last two decades of the century an increasing emphasis on the role and influence of the individual researcher on what is investigated at any particular time. Hence two broad approaches to histories of knowledge can be discerned. The first consists of histories of ideas and the social context in which these ideas were produced. The second consists of personal histories of practitioners in different fields in the form of biographies and autobiographies and illustrating how personal life stories both reflect and affect the development of knowledge within and beyond particular disciplines. Although general historical accounts and biographical or autobiographical accounts are often considered as two distinct genres, they are complementary. Every historical narrative is influenced by the particular perspective of its author, while every personal narrative is influenced by the time in which it is written. Broad historical accounts provide a context for individual thoughts and actions, while personal accounts provide the building blocks for the development of general ideas and practices.
