Choice Reviews Online · 2008 · 118 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesHistoryPhilosophyEuropean HistoryIntellectual HistoryPhilosophy Of ScienceEnlightenment ThoughtFrench RevolutionHistory Of ScienceNineteenth-century EuropeScientific ProgressScientific RevolutionHistory Of DarwinismHistory Of Scientific ConceptsHistory Of Scientific IdeasHistory Of Scientific KnowledgeNineteenth-century HistoriographyScientific RationalismScientific Revolution In EuropeSocial Darwinism
The nineteenth century’s scientific and cultural revolutions reshaped European society, and Olson’s book integrates the history of science with its influence on contemporary intellectual and social movements. Olson examines how 19th‑century movements—liberalism, socialism, positivism, communism, and social Darwinism—used natural science to interpret Enlightenment ideals, progress, religion, industry, imperialism, and racism, drawing on texts from Say, Saint‑Simon, Kant, Goethe, Darwin, Bagehot, and Bellamy.
Exploring the natural scientific foundations of far-reaching social ideologies The nineteenth century produced scientific and cultural revolutions that forever transformed modern European life. Although these critical developments are often studied independently, Richard G. Olson's Science and Scientism in Nineteenth-Century Europe provides an integrated account of the history of science and its impact on intellectual and social trends of the day. Focusing on the natural scientific foundations underlying liberalism, socialism, positivism, communism, and social Darwinism, Olson explores how these movements employed science to clarify their own understanding of Enlightenment ideals, as well as their understanding of progress, religion, industry, imperialism, and racism. Starting with the impact of the French Revolution on scientific thought, Olson engages with key texts from J. B. Say, Henri Saint-Simon, Kant, Goethe, Darwin, Walter Bagehot, and Edward Bellamy to demonstrate the complex set of forces that shaped nineteenth-century thinking.