Here's an exciting new publication, which unfortunately costs US $189:
The Social and Economic Roots of the Scientific Revolution: Texts by
Boris Hessen and Henryk Grossmann
Freudenthal, Gideon; McLaughlin, Peter (Eds.)
Series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 278
Springer, 2009, XII, 400 p.
http://www.springer.com/new+%26+forthcoming+titles+%28default%29/book/978-1-4020-9603-7
* Assembles the classics of Marxist historiography of science
* Offers the first publication of a book by Grossman and a new
and reliable translation of Hessen
* Provides an in-depth introduction to the various theories
* Outlines the historical context of these theories and their
biased anti-Marxist reception
The volume collects classics of Marxist historiography of science,
including a new translation of Boris Hessen's "The Social and
Economic Roots of Newton's Principia" (1931), Henryk Grossmann's "The
Social Foundation of Mechanistic Philosophy and Manufacture" (1935)
and his Descartes' New Ideal of Science. Universal Science vs.
Science of an Elite, published here for the first time. These three
papers, along with two very short pieces, present the classical
Marxist analysis of the relation of science and technology.
In a detailed introductory essay the editors analyze the main
arguments of these authors. They show that Hessen and Grossmann never
attempted to explain the rise of modern science by the utilitarian
motives of the scientists. On the contrary, they argue not that
science developed in order to improve technology but rather by means
of the study of technology. Marshalling a wealth of historical
evidence, Hessen and Grossmann argue that technology served as the
laboratory of scientific mechanics. This is the reason thatin physics
mechanics developed first and that thermodynamics and electrodynamics
followed later when the respective technologies (steam engines and
dynamos) had made other aspects of nature experimentally manageable.
Finally, the editors address Hessen's thesis, that ideological
commitments in the age of Newton prevented the formation of a
consistent materialist world view on the basis of the new science.
Table of Contents
1. Historical and systematic introduction by the editors, 2. Boris
Hessen, "The Social and Economic Roots of Newton's Mechanics" , 3.
Henryk Grossmann, "The Social Foundation of Mechanistic Philosophy
and Manufacture" . 4. Henryk Grossmann: Descartes New Ideal of
Science. Universal Science vs. Science of an Elite, 5. Henryk
Grossmann, book review (1938) and a letter to Max Horkheimer (1935),
6. A short biography of Henryk Grossmann (by Rick Kuhn, Canberra), 7.
Hessen in lieu of biography
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