Scientific Cosmology and International Orders

A history of how scientific ideas have transformed international politics since 1550.

Bentley B. Allan (Author)

9781108416610, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 April 2018

358 pages, 12 b/w illus. 2 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.2 cm, 0.62 kg

'This ambitious and eye-opening book takes two bold steps. In taking a step back, it traces how the rise of European science since the sixteenth century transformed the image of the universe, the role of humanity in the cosmos and thus the purposes of the state. In taking a step forward, it identifies the mechanisms that have made these changes possible. Beyond this creative combination of history and social science, Scientific Cosmology and International Orders reminds us again that creative thought about the past alerts us to the existence of unimaginable futures. Every tomorrow has its own history.' Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr, Professor of International Studies, Cornell University, New York

Scientific Cosmology and International Orders shows how scientific ideas have transformed international politics since 1550. Allan argues that cosmological concepts arising from Western science made possible the shift from a sixteenth-century order premised upon divine providence to the present order centred on economic growth. As states and other international associations used scientific ideas to solve problems, they slowly reconfigured ideas about how the world works, humanity's place in the universe, and the meaning of progress. The book demonstrates the rise of scientific ideas across three cases: natural philosophy in balance of power politics, 1550–1815; geology and Darwinism in British colonial policy and international colonial orders, 1860–1950; and cybernetic-systems thinking and economics in the World Bank and American liberal order, 1945–2015. Together, the cases trace the emergence of economic growth as a central end of states from its origins in colonial doctrines of development and balance of power thinking about improvement.

1. Introduction: science and the transformation of international politics
2. Cosmology and change in international orders
3. Natural philosophy in balance of power Europe, 1550–1815
4. Darwin, social knowledge, and development in the British Colonial Office and the League of Nations, 1850–1945
5. Neoclassical economics and the growth imperative in the world bank and postwar international order, 1945–2000
6. Conclusion: the future of cosmological change.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX], International relations [JPS]