Biology, Computing, and the History of Molecular Sequencing From Pro
Sequencing is often associated with the Human Genome Project and celebrated achievements concerning the DNA molecule. However, the history of this practice comprises not only academic biology, but also the world of computer-assisted information manag
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General Editor: Professor John V. Pickstone, Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Manchester, UK (www.man.ac.uk /CHSTM) One purpose of historical writing is to illuminate the present. At the start of the third millennium, science, technology and medicine are enormously important, yet their development is little studied. The reasons for this failure are as obvious as they are regrettable. Education in many countries, not least in Britain, draws deep divisions between the sciences and the humanities. Men and women who have been trained in science have too often been trained away from history, or from any sustained reflection on how societies work. Those educated in historical of social studies have usually learned so little of science that they remain thereafter suspicious, overawed or both. Such a diagnosis is by no means novel, nor is it particularly original to suggest that good historical studies of science may be peculiarly important for understanding our present. Indeed, this series could be seen as extending research undertaken over the last half century. But much of that work has treated science, technology and medicine separately; this series aims to draw them together, partly because the three activities have become ever more intertwined. This breadth of focus and the stress on the relationships between knowledge and practice are particularly appropriate in a series which will concentrate on modern history and on industrial societies. Furthermore, while much of the existing historical scholarship is on American topics, this series aims to be international, encouraging studies on European material. The intention is to present science, technology and medicine as aspects of modern culture – analysing their economic, social and political knowledge, and how it was shaped within particular economic, social and political structures. Such analyses should contribute to discussions of present dilemmas and to assessments of policy. ‘Science’ no longer appears to us as a triumphant agent of Enlightenment, breading the shackles of tradition, enabling command over nature. But neither is it to be seen as merely oppressive and dangerous. Judgement requires information and careful analysis, just as intelligent policy-making requires a community of discourse between men and women trained in technical specialties and those who are not. This series is intended to supply analysis and to stimulate debate. Opinions will vary between authors; we claim only that the books are based on searching historical study of topics which are important, not least because of the cut across conventional academic boundaries. They should appeal not just to historians, or just to scientists, engineers and doctors, but to all who share the view that science, technology and medicine are far too important to be left out of history. Titles include: Lynda Bryder WOMEN’S BODIES AND MEDICAL SCIENCE An Inquiry into Cervical Cancer
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