Listing of Sessions and Abstracts of Papers - History of Science ...

At the dawn of the Enlightenment, news about phenomena of vampirism arriving from the southeastern
borders of the Austrian empire caused unprecedented concerns in the European intelligentsia. In
particular, in towns like Vienna, Leipzig, Rome, and Naples a number of physicians, ecclesiastics, and
university professors of philosophy debated the revolutionary possibility that a corpse could be animated
by something other than a spiritual soul. At a time when questions of witchcraft had lost their status as
respectable scientific issues, vampirism was actually deemed worthy of serious consideration. I shall
explore some of the most interesting philosophical and scientific aspects of this debate, and I'll argue
that the vampire became a distinctive myth in modern European culture because it could be used as a
conceptual space for the discussion of subversive philosophical doctrines.
McKenzie, Matthew
E-mail Address: mgmk@nh.ultranet.com
Redefining Science in Local Terms: Navigational Science and Centers of Calculation in New
England, 1760 to 1800
Recent studies by David Phillip Miller and John Gascoigne have painted a picture of late 18th century
British Imperial science as isolated spokes of information, power and patronage emanating from a
central London hub. Historians of American science, such as John C. Greene, have argued that American
scientific correspondents with London acted merely as data collectors for London and hoped to gain
recognition from members of the Royal Society. Archival resources from the Massachusetts Historical
Society and the Peabody Essex Museum challenge this image of how science was organized and defined
in late 18th century America. Looking beyond theoretical science practiced by learned societies, new
centers of calculation emerged in North America to challenge London authority. In particular, marine
societies formed in the middle of the 18th century in Boston, Salem, and Newburyport that embraced
leadership roles in navigational science. By collecting, analyzing and evaluating members' logbooks
and observations, they challenged British exclusiveness in navigational research, and came to manage
harbor pilots, review nautical charts, publish nautical observations and evaluate navigational publications.
Rather than dependent upon an imperial hub, local centers of calculation emerged to address
immediate navigational concerns. Marine societies can also be seen as learned societies that shared
what Roger Hahn has argued were "the trade-marks of all groups seriously concerned with the promotion
of science." Marine societies differed from traditional learned societies, however, in that they
evaluated membership, scientific research, and publications upon vocational experience and practice,
rather than theory. Consequently, marine societies represent a brief moment when practice and theory
coexisted as equally valid sources of scientific validation.
Meredith, Margaret
E-mail Address: meredith@helix.ucsd.edu
The Power and Problem of Authority: Early American History in a Trans-Atlantic Context
Historians of early American natural history have experienced difficulties in accounting for the
impact of European scientific ideas in North America. It is widely perceived that until the mid-nineteenth
century, there was little or no American scientific enterprise to speak of and that Americans were
dependent upon Europe for most of their scientific knowledge. European ideas are said to influence
American practitioners of science until they became professional and respectable sometime between the
1830s and 1850s. The mechanics of this relationship of dependency are portrayed as a process of diffusion,
in which the dissemination of natural knowledge is likened to the spread of a contagious disease.
Natural knowledge diffuses out among the populace and, whether it is taken up is usually portrayed as a
matter of how educated, intelligent, or professionally trained a person is. This paper is concerned with
how Americans judged European scientific claims. I argue that the authority of European scientific