Epistemic Transfer in the History of the Humanities and Sciences

Epistemic Transfer in the History of Humanities and Sciences brings together experts from the history of science, the humanities and the social sciences, investigating the mechanisms and conditions of epistemic transfer across disciplinary domains.This book addresses the major challenge that it is to understand why disciplines borrow from one another and why some transfers spark innovation while others fail. Through rich case studies spanning the history of science, humanities, and social sciences, it reveals the practices, infrastructures, and institutional conditions that enable successful knowledge circulation. Contributors revisit the concept of discipline itself, demonstrating how knowledge transforms as it crosses intellectual boundaries and providing fresh perspectives on contemporary interdisciplinary debates.An essential reference for historians of science, intellectual historians, and scholars in science and technology studies, this book will also appeal to researchers across the humanities and social sciences interested in interdisciplinarity, knowledge production, and the history of scholarly inquiry.

About the Author

Rens Bod is Professor of History of the Humanities and Dgtl Humanities at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His research interest is global knowledge histories, and his published books include A New History of the Humanities (2013), World of Patterns (2022), and The Unique Animal (forthcoming, 2027).

Isak Hammar is Associate Professor of History at Lund University, Sweden. His research focuses on the history of the humanities.

Jeroen van Dongen is Professor of History of Science at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands and co-director of the Vossius Center for History of the Humanities and Sciences in Amsterdam. His research focuses on the history and philosophy of physics, and general issues in historiography of knowledge.