ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

The Digital Revolution and the History of Science

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

English Abstract

Given the limited time available for discussion during the individual presentations in the symposium titled The Impact of the Digital Revolution on the History of Science and Its Social Implications, this roundtable aims to provide a space for extended reflection on these issues. The four panelists will each present their theses. Rob Iliffe (University of Oxford; Newton Project and Kohn History Centre) will discuss the development and future directions of the Newton Project, with particular attention to the epistemological and ethical issues raised by AI-driven research. Jürgen Renn (Founding Director, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena) will examine major debates of the past decade concerning the opportunities and risks of digital humanities research, and will outline his conception of the Epistemic Web. Conceived as an infrastructure designed to optimize the co-production and circulation of knowledge in the humanities and sciences, the Epistemic Web enables users to become “prosumers” through collaborative interfaces—interagents—that federate documents and dynamically assemble knowledge landscapes across disciplinary boundaries. Simone Turchetti (University of Manchester; Principal Investigator, ERC Project Neworld@a – Negotiating World Research Data: A Science Diplomacy Study) will address the question of how the digital revolution is framed, arguing that it is often presented through a rhetoric of promise and progress that obscures its broader global and social implications. Finally, Sonja Brentjes (President, International Academy of the History of Science) will offer her perspective on the debates surrounding the risks associated with digital humanities over the past decade and will share her personal experiences. Following these presentations, there will be a general discussion. The session will conclude with a small reception for symposium and roundtable participants, sponsored by the Gustav Neuenschwander Foundation and organized with the support of the International Academy of the History of Science. The Foundation will also support the publication of a collection of papers from the symposium at this landmark first joint meeting of the ESHS and HSS, held with the support of the BSHS.

Sub Unit

• Roundtable

Chair

• Erwin Neuenschwander, Institute of Mathematics University of Zurich

Participants

• Jürgen Renn, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology

• Robert Iliffe

• Simone Turchetti, University of Manchester

• Sonja Brentjes, University Wuppertal

Session Organizer

• Erwin Neuenschwander, Institute of Mathematics University of Zurich