Jan 30, 2008 - Claremont, Calif. - Professor of History and the Willard W. Keith Jr. Fellow in Humanities Richard G. Olson ‘62 has published “Science and Scientism in Nineteenth-Century Europe” (University of Illinois Press), which explores the natural scientific foundations of far-reaching social ideologies.

The book is Vol. III of Olson’s series “Science Deified, Science Defied,” and explores how the nineteenth century produced scientific and cultural revolutions that forever transformed modern European life. He is the author of “Science and Religion, 1400–1900: From Copernicus to Darwin,” “Scottish Philosophy and British Physics, 1750–1850: Foundations of the Victorian Scientific Style,” and other books.

According to the publisher:

Although these critical developments are often studied independently, Richard G. Olson’s “Science and Scientism in Nineteenth-Century Europe” provides an integrated account of the history of science and its impact on intellectual and social trends of the day. Focusing on the natural scientific foundations underlying liberalism, socialism, positivism, communism, and social Darwinism, Olson explores how these movements employed science to clarify their own understanding of Enlightenment ideals, as well as their understanding of progress, religion, industry, imperialism, and racism. Starting with the impact of the French Revolution on scientific thought, Olson engages with key texts from J. B. Say, Henri Saint-Simon, Auguste Comte, Immanuel Kant, Wolfgang Goethe, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Walter Bagehot, and Edward Bellamy to demonstrate the complex set of forces that shaped nineteenth-century thinking.

“Olson has provided a real service to both scholars and teachers by writing this fine survey of the deployments of European scientific ideas to social, cultural, and intellectual-historical purposes during the nineteenth century,” according to Alan Rocke, Bourne Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University.

In addition to most major book vendors, the book can be purchased directly from the University of Illinois Press.