School of History and Philosophy of Science

Placing science in its historical and social context

At the crossroads of arts and science, we examine past and current developments in all areas of science, technology and medicine from a range of humanistic perspectives.

History and philosophy of science (HPS) is an ideal way to critically engage with science and its social and cultural significance. Any student with a genuine interest in science will derive benefit from the study of this discipline.

Teaching at the School of History and Philosophy of Science

Teaching staff in the School of History and Philosophy of Science have published widely in their fields of expertise and have gained international recognition for their research. This makes them fantastic educators, sharing their knowledge and experiences in the classroom so students can be at the forefront of innovations in the field.

The University of Sydney is ranked first in Australia and fifth in the world for graduate employability.* This stems from our immersive, research-led teaching which prepares students for the real-world and a successful career.

*QS Graduate Employability Rankings, 2019.

Study area_

Study with us

Study science in its historical, philosophical and social contexts and examine how science differs from other forms of knowledge

Research_

Our research

Our research is broad reaching and encourages students to pursue research in areas that may include medicine and society, early modern science or history and technology to name a few.

News bites

Professor Hans Pols - ARC success

Professor Johannes Pols;with Professor Catharine Coleborne; Associate Professor Paul Rhodes; and Professor Anthony Harris

The development of Australian community psychiatry. This project aims to analyse recent developments in Australian psychiatry by considering their broader social, cultural, and political contexts. In the 1970s, Australian psychiatry, primarily based in mental hospital care, came under sustained critique by psychologists, psychiatrists interested in developing alternative treatment methods, and broader social movements. This project will investigate how psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals aimed to change mental hospital care and develop community psychiatry to provide alternatives. The project will examine the initiatives of the pioneers in Australian community psychiatry and its relationship to the broader deinstitutionalisation movement. The project will also analyse the resulting changes in research and practice.

Evelleen Richards: Winner of the Suzanne J. Levinson Prize

Congratulations to our own Honorary Professor Evelleen Richards on being awarded the Suzanne J. Levinson Prize for her book Darwin and the Making of Sexual Selection.

The prize is awarded every years to the best book in the area of history of life sciences and natural history by the History of Science Society. Read more about the prize win here.

HPS Research Seminar Series 2019

15 April: Dr James Christie

Dr James Christie
Monday 15 April
Level 5 Function Room,
Administration Building (F23)

Astrology and the Extraterrestrial Life Debate in the Early Modern Period

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the decline of astrology as a scientific discipline, as well as the adoption, or re-adoption, of the ‘plurality of worlds’ philosophy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The histories of these two phenomena are usually kept separate, largely because the same period represents a certain terminus ad quem for the former and the terminus a quo for the latter. Nevertheless, both these trends are considered consequences of a Copernican cosmology and hallmarks of a modern worldview.

This talk will suggest the benefits of a conjoined and comparative history of astrology and the ET life debate in the early modern period. Offering up examples from Nicholas of Cusa to the Newtonian Richard Bentley, I will argue (a) that the astrological tradition initially offered a stimulus to early theories of ET life; and (b) that the idea of an inhabited universe was later used to undermine astrology, ultimately supplanting it as the dominant cosmological paradigm.