The School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry History and Philosophy of Science

About Us

History and Philosophy of Science is an Inter-School Program between The School of Philosophy and The School of Social and Environmental Enquiry. History and Philosophy of Science studies science just as science studies the world. From global warming to gene technologies, from cyber-relationships, to religion and politics, science and technology mediate change and help us understand the world and our place in it. HPS brings together teaching and research in the history of science and medicine, the philosophy of science, the social studies of science and technology, Social Theory and Computer Applications.

HPS seeks to bridge the two cultures of the sciences and the humanities. And with science and technology's central place in modern life, we need to think about scientific knowledge and its applications in a systematic, critical way. While most of us are not professionally trained to manipulate scientific knowledge independently, we can acquire a form of scientific and technological literacy that enables us to understand 'where the science is coming from' and what it means for us and our needs.

The University of Melbourne began teaching HPS in 1946, one of the first places in the world to do so. It is one of the most eclectic programs in the university, embracing interests in 'almost everything'.

In this section of the website you will find:

 

History of the HPS Program: Some Beginnings

The Department (now program) of History and Philosophy of Science began, under another guise, in 1946, one of the first departments of this kind in the world. The possibility of introducing such a department into the University of Melbourne had been mooted before but the outbreak of the Second World War put an end to those pioneering discussions. It was regarded as such a promising experiment, however, that discussion was resumed immediately after the war. As a result, towards the end of 1945 the University Council agreed to appoint a Senior Lecturer to run the Department of General Science and Scientific Method as it was to be called at first. The successful candidate was Squadron Leader Clarence Edgar Palmer, MSc, of the RNZAF, a polymath, widely read in philosophy, whose scientific expertise was in zoology and meteorology and whose background included administrative as well as academic experience. The University was fortunate in this founding appointment as Palmer's background, his drive, enthusiasm, energy and engaging personality were just what was needed to set up this novel multi-disciplinary department.  He was housed in the Physiology Department then headed by Professor R D Wright, one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the Department.

It was in the Faculty of Arts, however, that a subject in the Department first took firm root. Undergraduates there were already required to include a science subject in their degree and General Science became one of these It was attractive to students as it was often more closely related to the rest of their course than a subject from the first year of a science course.  Palmer set up an ambitious year-long course. It began with discussion of both the relation of science to philosophy and scientific method followed by a brief survey of the subject matter of mathematics and the physical and biological sciences and an historical treatment of their chief generalizations.  This in turn was to be followed by a detailed discussion of four topics: (i) Newtonian mechanics and its application to astronomy. (ii) the electronic theory of valency. (iii) the Mendelian theory of inheritance. (iv)the neo-Darwinian theory of inheritance. Most of these topics were later developed into individual subjects in their own right.

The Medical Faculty added Scientific Method to its first year but, unfortunately, under nearly impossible conditions for staff. It was a year-long course, attendance was compulsory but there was no examination. The Science Faculty at first restricted the use of the new subject to postgraduate students but later undergraduate units tailored to the Faculty were introduced.

Unfortunately for the University, Palmer, who had been associated with a branch of UCLA during the War, was offered a visiting Associate Professorship there for 1947-8. So that he could take a year's leave, Palmer made excellent arrangements for the Department in his absence resulting in the appointment of Gerd Buchdahl, an engineer and a Melbourne graduate with honours in philosophy, as a temporary lecturer in General Science and Scientific Method. Palmer arranged that Buchdahl should have the equivalent of a semester teaching in the Department with him so that he should be thoroughly familiar with the courses before Palmer left. In the end, UCLA did not want to lose Palmer and Gerd Buchdahl's appointment was made permanent from August 1948.

Buchdahl fully justified his appointment from the beginning and student numbers increased to the extent that a part time tutor was necessary in 1949. In the following year, Buchdahl was promoted to Senior Lecturer-in-Charge, the Department was re-named History and Methods of Science and Diana (Ding) Dyason, then a Senior Demonstrator in Physiology, was appointed as Lecturer. This led to a greater emphasis on the biological sciences and ultimately to teaching and research in the history of medicine. Ensuing years saw the appointment of lecturers in history of chemistry and of mathematics and further appointments in the philosophy of science.  The Department still acted in part as a service department, indeed, at various times, it provided subjects for Faculties beyond the original three, including Architecture, Engineering, and Education.

Thanks to an offer from Dr Stephen Toulmin, Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at Oxford University, to exchange duties with him for a year, Buchdahl was able to take his study leave of 1954-5 at Oxford. This was not only professionally valuable to Buchdahl, but to have a philosopher of Toulmin's standing in charge of the Department greatly enhanced its reputation in Australia and abroad. Furthermore, Toulmin wrote a very favourable report on the Department.

The Arts Faculty courses and staff within the Department were increasing in number, an MA and a PhD student were already enrolled, and in 1957 an Honours School was created and the Department's name was changed to History and Philosophy of Science. From the beginning the Department had been closely though loosely associated with the Philosophy Department and, from this time, subjects from Philosophy were used in HPS courses.

In 1958, when Buchdahl resigned to take up an appointment at Cambridge, Dyason became Senior Lecturer-in-Charge in his place. She was a tremendously energetic leader with a genius for interesting others in the affairs of the Department, which, under her guidance, developed a strongly collegiate nature, while continuing to develop its scholarly and educational aims. Staff members with different areas of expertise were appointed, new directions taken until, in 1975 the University Council decided that HPS should have a Chair. Dyason said she was a Reader and wanted to read so did not stand for this position and Roderick Weir Home, BSc (Melb), PhD (Indiana), who had joined the Department in 1967, became the new Professor. A scholar with an exceptional talent for teaching and organization, Home's research focus was in those days centred on the history of physics but in general his interests were broad-ranging and it was a fortunate postgraduate who had him as supervisor whatever the topic.

Home enhanced the interdisciplinary nature of the Department, not only by developments within the Department, but also by the formation of new associations and attachments. The first of these, developed in conjunction with Gavan McCarthy, was the Australian Science Archives Project established in 1985 which was concerned with recording the documents of past science, medicine and technology in Australia. This work is now continued and expanded in the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, established in 1999.   The second of these projects, created with Warwick Anderson, was the Centre for the Study Health of and Society (now CHS) which was established jointly in the Faculties of Arts and Medicine in 1997. This has flourished under Professor Ian Anderson who has gone on to develop further programs in the area of health & society such as the VicHealth Koori Health Research and Community Development Unit.  The links between science and society were given increasing emphasis in teaching and research within the Department so that it was appropriate that the Ashworth Program in Social Theory became part of the Department

Developments such as these suggest that the pioneers in this transdisciplinary department would not have been disappointed in the outcome of their experiment.

In 2007 HPS became an Inter-School Program between The School of Philosophy and The School of Social and Environmental Enquiry.

 

top of page