`Sal Restivo's book is a major achievement in the sociology of science and mathematics. It is exciting to read and constitutes a creative, wide-ranging exploration of the connections between physics and mysticism, between the natural science and the humanities. Of particular interest is his attempt to show the emergence of abstraction and of formal disciplines in science by relating them to the structure of social interests in society. All told, this book challenges the separation of C.P. Snow's `two cultures' and is an original attempt to overcome the chasms between the natural sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences. The implications of the book's content certainly go far beyond its title.' Prof. W. Heydebrand, New York University
Biosketch
DR. SAL RESTIVO is Professor of Sociology,Science Studies,and Information Technology in the Department of Science and Technology Studies, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He is a founding member (1975) of and a former president (1994/95) of the Society for Social Studies of Science. He was also the founding editor of the discontinued State University of New York Press series on Science, Technology, and Society, and was the first director of Rensselaer's PhD program in Science and Technology Studies. Dr. Restivo is an honor graduate in electrical engineering of Brooklyn Technical High School (New York City), and was one of the eleven inaugural inductees into the school's Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame (1998). Dr. Restivo is the author of The Social Relations of Physics, Mysticism, and Mathematics (1983), The Sociological Worldview (1991), Mathematics in Society and History (1992), Science, Society, and Values: Toward a Sociology of Objectivity (1994), and Science, Technology, and Society: A Sociological Perspective (2005, with Wenda Bauchspies and Jennifer Croissant). He is also co-editor (with C.K. Vanderpool) of Comparative Studies in Science and Society (1974) and co-editor (with J.P. Van Bendegem and Roland Fischer) of Math Worlds: Philosophical and Social Studies of Mathematics and Mathematics Education (1993); and he co-edited Degrees of Compromise: Industrial Interests and Academic Values with Jennifer Croissant (2001). He is the Editor-in-Chief of Oxford University Press' Science, Technology, and Society: An Encyclopedia (2005), and the co-editor with Peter Denton of Battleground: Science and Technology, a 2 volume encyclopedia (Greenwood Press, 2008).
During the course of his career, Dr. Restivo has carried out several ethnographic studies of science and engineering laboratories, done research on the historical sociology of science and mathematics, studied and been a consultant on problems of science policy for government agencies in the U.S., South America, Asia, and various European countries, worked on problems in the education of scientists and engineers, and critically analyzed the theories guiding research, development and applications in social and sociable robotics. He is currently developing a sociological theory of mind, brain, and thinking (and writing The Social Brain: A Sociocultural Perspective). He is the author of Red, Black, and Objective: Science and the Anarchist Tradition; and co-author (with Monica Mesquita and Ubiratan D'Ambrosio) of Asphalt Children: History, Culture, Ethnomathematics and the Street Children of Sao Paolo, both scheduled for publication in 2011. He has also written a novel, Bring Me the Brain of Nikola Tesla (2007)*. He is currently working on a book about the physics-mysticism nexus titled The Rejection of Transcendence: Physics, Mysticism, and Society. He is the developer of the Draw a Brain protocols for studying people's concepts and images of brain, mind, and emotions. His current research focuses on the sociology of mind and brain, and he is also a member of a research team studying magic and culture (this study includes research at the Magic Castle in Hollywood CA, where he is a member of the Academy of Magical Arts).
Dr. Restivo's research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Office of Education as well as a number of overseas agencies. During 1985-1986, he was a Visiting National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow doing research on the historical sociology of mathematics at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science
and Technology at Victoria College, University of Toronto. During the 1994-95 academic year, he spent the fall semester lecturing in Great Britain. In the spring, he was Belgian National Research Foundation Professor at the Free University in Brussels, and Nordic Research Academy Professor at the universities of Gothenburg (Sweden) and Roskilde (Denmark). Dr. Restivo was appointed Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Education at Birmingham University (UK) for 1998-99. In May 1999 he was Visiting Lecturer in mathematics and mathematics education at Copenhagen University. In April 2000, RPI awarded him the Jerome Fischbach Travel Grant in recognition of his educational contributions to the Institute. During 2002-04 he was at Harvey Mudd College as the Hixon/Riggs Visiting Professor of Science, Technology, and Society. He is a former Special Professor in the School of Education at Nottingham University in England. In 2007, he was appointed Special Lecture Professor at Northeastern University in Shenyang, China. For more information, see his website: salrestivo.org
When he isn't 'doing sociology,' Dr. Restivo can be found playing accordion or flamenco guitar, or working out in his home gym. He was a collegiate weightlifter, and he became the Physical Director of the former Shelton Towers Hotel in New York City in the early 1960s while working as an instructor in the Vic Tanny gym chain. He was president and a coach of the City College of New York Weightlifting Team and Club during that same period. He has also served as a weightlifting and powerlifting official for the American Athletic Union and the American Drug Free Powerlifting Association and continues to consult with clients as a personal trainer.
*Available in eBook format at: http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookSearchResults.aspx?Search=Henry%20Balogun%20Ph.D.
