Department Profile:
The history, philosophy and ethics of science, technology and medicine are taught at Aberdeen within the Cultural History programme, the Department of Philosophy and the Department of History. The Cultural History programme approaches the development of cultures in an interdisciplinary manner, integrating perspectives from philosophy, history, anthropology, sociology, literature, film, art history, religion, and science. The Philosophy Department hosts the Thomas Reid Project and the Centre for Philosophy, Technology and Society, with its journal, Ends and Means. The History Department co-ordinates the Medicine, Science and Technology Group and has close links with the Wellcome Institute. The University's libraries have excellent collections for research in 18th and 19th century history of science and medicine; there are extensive local manuscript resources; and the Marischal Museum and other sites provide further resources for students of material culture. The University has a fine Natural Philosophy collection comprising instruments associated with the teaching of natural philosophy at Aberdeen from the eighteenth century to the present day.
Faculty Teaching Staff:
Elizabeth Hallam, Tony Heywood, Hazel Hutchison, Ben Marsden, William Naphy, Ralph O’Connor, John Reid, David Smith, Oonagh Walsh
Areas of Expertise:
Cultural history of nineteenth century science and technology; Philosophy of science and technology; History and philosophy of medicine; Medical ethics; Historical anthropology; History of plague; Nineteenth-century Irish psychiatric history; Twentieth-century nutrition; Literature and science, in the 19th and early 20th centuries; The history of geology, especially in popular discourse; The material culture of anatomy, death and disease; Railway history, especially in Russia; The history of scientific instruments
Special Resources:
Large manuscript collections ranging from the thirteenth-century Aberdeen Bestiary (also available on-line) through the archives of Thomas Reid to records of local societies and industries; Strong collections of science books and periodicals from seventeenth century to the present day; Nineteenth-century medical pamphlets; Marischal Museum; anatomical museum; Medico-Chirurgical Society; Collection of scientific instruments in the natural philosophy collection and at Marischal Museum.
