Galileo's Pendulum: Science, Sexuality, and the Body-Instrument Link (Suny Series in Science, Technology, and Society) [Hardcover]

Dusan I. Bjelic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003 | Series: Suny Series in Science, Technology, and Society

Examines the history of science in light of recent theories of sexuality and the body.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Drawing on the theories of Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and others who have written on the history of sexuality and the body, Galileo's Pendulum explores how the emergence of the scientific method in the seventeenth century led to a de-emphasis on the body and sexuality. The first half of the book focuses on the historical modeling of the relation between pleasure and knowledge by examining a history of scientific rationality and its relation to the formation of the modern scientist's subjectivity. Relying on Foucault's history of sexuality, the author hypothesizes that Galileo's pendulum, as an extension of mathematics and the body, must have been sexualized by schemes of historical representation to the same extent that such schemes were rationalized by Galileo. The second half of the book explores the problems of scientific methodology and attempts to return the body in an explicit way to scientific practice. Ultimately, Galileo's Pendulum offers a discursive method and praxis for resexualizing the history of Galilean science. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791458814
• ISBN-13: 978-0791458815
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,452,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.