Science and Narratives of Nature East and West

The discourse and practice of science are deeply connected to explicit and implicit narratives of nature. However, nature has been understood in diverse ways by cultures across the world. Could these different views of nature generate the possibility of alternate views on science? Part of the innovative series Science and Technology Studies, this volume looks at different conceptualizations of nature and the manner in which they structure the practice of the sciences. The essays draw upon philosophy, history, sociology, religion, feminism, mathematics and cultural studies, and establish a dialogue between cultures through a multi-disciplinary exploration of science. With contributions from major scholars in the field, this volume will deeply interest scholars and students of science and technology studies; sociology, history and philosophy of science; as also environmental studies.

Introduction 1 Post-humanist ‘narratives of (non-)nature’ and the sciences 2 Nature, body and woman: an Indian perspective on value dualisms 3 Revealed truth and homosexuality in the West: Christianity and science in Foucaultian perspective 4 Feminist epistemology and postcolonial science studies 5 Is food natural or cultural? Food, body and the mind in Indian medical traditions 6 Placing and moving knowledge: East and West, North and South 7 ‘Why did exchange of knowledge across Eurasia generate a Scientific Revolution in the West?’ 8 Nineteenth-century science and Western materialisms 9 Eastern mathematics, Western mathematics: shall the Twain ever meet? 10 On the nature of mathematics and scientific knowledge in Indian tradition 11 See what I mean? On developing norms for the production and publication of scientific images 12 The ‘relocation’ of technology between East and West: stationary steam engines and steamboats in India in the early nineteenth century 13 The production and distribution of pharmaceutical clinical trial knowledge: case studies in the political economy of scientific knowledge

Sarukkai, Sundar