The Evolution of Knowledge

”[Renn’s] new tour de force, The Evolution of Knowledge, addresses all those concerned with science’s fate… . In the 1930s, at a moment of existential crisis comparable to today’s, [Edmund] Husserl likewise sought to reorient science around shared human experiences and common human needs. Yet Husserl, a notoriously opaque writer, had little hope of communicating his message to the scientific community. With this lucid and accessible book, Renn stands a far greater chance of success.”—Deborah R. Coen, Science“This is an important book and one that powerfully advances our understanding of how knowledge operates in society while directly engaging with pressing contemporary issues.”—Geoffrey Cantor, Times Higher Education“A global history of knowledge is a breathtakingly ambitious project… . Renn faces down the difficulties of crafting such an account with skill and resolve. The result is provocative and challenging.”—Joseph D. Martin, Physics Today“In The Evolution of Knowledge, both academics and nonacademics concerned with the state of our planet will find a lot to think with and elaborate on. This erudite, rich, and important book indeed opens conversations rather than closing them.”—Raf De Bont, Isis“This book should be required reading for all who consider themselves students of the history of knowledge.”—Alfred Freeborn, History of Human Sciences“An inspiring survey of the products of Renn’s long career.”—Jeremy Trevelyan Burman, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

Jrgen Renn is a director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, where, together with his group, he researches structural changes in systems of knowledge. His books include, with Hanoch Gutfreund, The Formative Years of Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein’s Princeton Lectures and The Road to Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein’s “The Foundation of General Relativity” (both Princeton).