Towards a Negative History of Science: The Unknown, Errors, Ignorance, and the “Pseudosciences”

Abstract

This article outlines elements of a negative history of science. For historians wishing to get a fuller picture of scientific practice both internally and externally, there is a lot to be gained by considering the dialectical constitution of scientific knowledge. To fully comprehend this relationality, historians should, therefore, trace the negative relations science maintains. Through oppositions, such as known/unknown; success/error; consideration/ignorance; and inclusion/exclusion, scientific knowledge emerges and disappears, and the social position of scientific practice is both established and contested. To exemplify our argument, we present four areas: the unknown, errors, ignorance, and the “pseudosciences”. Taken together, this approach allows us to understand how science constitutes itself epistemically and socially across different locations and historical periods.