ABSTRACT

The discourse and practice of science are deeply connected to explicit and implicit narratives of nature. However, nature has been understood in diverse ways by cultures across the world. Could these different views of nature generate the possibility of alternate views on science? Part of the innovative series Science and Technology Studies, this volume looks at different conceptualizations of nature and the manner in which they structure the practice of the sciences. The essays draw upon philosophy, history, sociology, religion, feminism, mathematics and cultural studies, and establish a dialogue between cultures through a multi-disciplinary exploration of science. With contributions from major scholars in the field, this volume will deeply interest scholars and students of science and technology studies; sociology, history and philosophy of science; as also environmental studies.

chapter |11 pages

Introduction

chapter One|21 pages

Post-humanist ‘narratives of (non-)nature’ and the sciences

ByStephen Healy

chapter Two|22 pages

Nature, body and woman

An Indian perspective on value dualisms
ByMeera Baindur

chapter Three|36 pages

Revealed truth and homosexuality in the West

Christianity and science in Foucaultian perspective
ByYiftach Fehige

chapter Four|22 pages

Feminist epistemology and postcolonial science studies

ByKathleen Okruhlik

chapter Five|24 pages

Is food natural or cultural?

Food, body and the mind in Indian medical traditions
ByV. Sujatha

chapter Six|19 pages

Placing and moving knowledge

East and West, North and South
ByStephen Bocking

chapter Eight|21 pages

Nineteenth-century science and Western materialisms

ByBernard Lightman

chapter Nine|25 pages

Eastern mathematics, Western mathematics

Shall the Twain ever meet?
ByGeorge Gheverghese Joseph

chapter Twelve|44 pages

The ‘relocation’ of technology between East and West

Stationary steam engines and steamboats in India in the early nineteenth century
ByDavid Philip Miller

chapter Thirteen|20 pages

The production and distribution of pharmaceutical clinical trial knowledge

Case studies in the political economy of scientific knowledge
BySergio Sismondo