On 19-20 June 2015, the Society for the History of Science in the Netherlands, Gewina, will organize its sixth biannual meeting at the Woudschoten conference centre. The theme of the conference is ‘Things to Know: Material Culture in Scientific Practice’.

In addition to written texts, historians of science increasingly use material sources in their research, such as paintings and prints, scientific instruments and models, chemicals and other material substances, anatomical and natural history collections, or journals and books, seen as material objects rather than as carriers of textual information. Using such sources often involves drawing on methods and skills of other disciplines – archeology, anthropology, art history – or even manipulating objects and substances.

What does all this mean for the history of science? How can the use of material culture enrich our view of the past, and what, if any, are the limitations of focusing on material objects? How do the trajectories that scientific objects follow across a variety of places of scientific practice affect their identity? What can we learn from reenacting the manual work of manipulating substances, constructing instruments, and performing experiments? Which objects do we need to conserve for the benefit of future historians? How can material objects enrich the teaching of the history of science? 

The meeting is organized by Museum Boerhaave and Eric Jorink and Frans van Lunteren of Leiden University, on behalf of the Belgian-Dutch Society for the History of Science and Universities Gewina.