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A History of the Modern Fact: Problems of Knowledge in the Sciences of Wealth and Society 1st Edition

by Mary Poovey (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
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A History of the Modern Fact: Problems of Knowledge in the Sciences of Wealth and Society
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How did the fact become modernity's most favored unit of knowledge? How did description come to seem separable from theory in the precursors of economics and the social sciences?

Mary Poovey explores these questions in A History of the Modern Fact, ranging across an astonishing array of texts and ideas from the publication of the first British manual on double-entry bookkeeping in 1588 to the institutionalization of statistics in the 1830s. She shows how the production of systematic knowledge from descriptions of observed particulars influenced government, how numerical representation became the privileged vehicle for generating useful facts, and how belief—whether figured as credit, credibility, or credulity—remained essential to the production of knowledge.

Illuminating the epistemological conditions that have made modern social and economic knowledge possible, A History of the Modern Fact provides important contributions to the history of political thought, economics, science, and philosophy, as well as to literary and cultural criticism.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0226675262
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0226675268
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    University of Chicago Press
  5. Publication date
    November 15, 1998
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    8.93 x 6.06 x 1.1 inches
  8. Print length
    436 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Poovey (English, New York Univ.) defines the modern fact as systematic knowledge that is derived from the theoretical interpretation of observed particulars, i.e., numbers. This distinction between description (numbers) and interpretation has not always been made, and in this work Poovey is interested in how numbers came to be seen as value-free and impartial while the theories used to interpret them are widely understood to be influenced by social and political factors. From the development of double-entry bookkeeping in the late 16th century to the early use of statistics in the 1830s, Poovey focuses on the history of wealth and economics in Britain. During this period numerical representations became an increasingly important vehicle for producing knowledge and displaying mercantile credibility and virtue and ultimately economic and social prestige. The modern fact is a pioneering epistemological designation, and this book is an important contribution to the history of science and thought as well as literary and cultural criticism. Written mainly for the scholar, this book is recommended for large public libraries with research collections and academic libraries strong in the social sciences.?Jim Woodman, Boston Athenaeum
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Mary Poovey has recently retired from her position as Samuel Rudin University Professor in the Humanities at New York University. She is the author of numerous books, including A History of the Modern Fact: Problems of Knowledge in the Sciences of Wealth and Society and Genres of the Credit Economy: Mediating Value in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Britain.
 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; 1st edition (November 15, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 436 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0226675262
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226675268
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.44 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.93 x 6.06 x 1.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • J. C. Morris
    2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting idea, oddly exeuted
    Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    This book falls into a trap of academic writing that some people will find a bit objectionable. There is so much structure that you are bombarded with a series of statements that effectively are saying: This is what I'm going to tell you fact 1 in a moment, now I'm about to tell you fact 1, are you ready for fact 1, oh wait I are you sure you're ready for fact 1, now lets all be shocked by me telling you fact 1, and finally lets dwell on fact 1. This is ok for some forms of academic writing, but to the casual reader it is a bit infuriating to be assumed so dull witted that you do not understand the words in front of you. The writing is clear, usually precise, but rarely concise. The topic is strictly a matter of economics, and the relation to other fields of philosophy and science is not particularly well developed despite there being ample evidence available for such diversions.
    23 people found this helpful
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  • SFlocalNM
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, valuable topic made soporific through academic obfuscation
    Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2019
    I really wanted to like this book, and there are many important ideas and insights here, but the stilted language and highly repetitive structure causes the interesting and important subject matter to be lost in the sheer effort required to slog though chapter by chapter. The unfortunate practice, already noted in an earlier review, of repeatedly stating "here's what I'm going to tell you, and then I'll tell you this..." is so over-used here that this structural "feature" becomes a distraction from the actual material. Dropping these repeated introductory statements would make this 300+ page book into a much better 200 page book. Just get to the subject matter, your readers don't need that much hand-holding.
    I also consistently found that some of the most interesting material was relegated to footnotes, which, given the already verbose text, could easily have been incorporated directly into the body.
    The core idea of this book - what is it that we consider to be a fact ? - is so important that it is a shame that this particular presentation is so opaque.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Ceek
    4.0 out of 5 stars Substance Over Style
    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2012
    In contrast to the unnecessary wordiness of this book, I will keep my review of it concise.

    What we conceive of as "fact" today is a modern invention in which theories about how to discern and represent objective truth in the world coalesced around our conceptions of scientific induction, moral philosophy, and rhetorical styles in the 15th-18th centuries. In other words, what we consider fact today sure ain't what it used to be. And in her genealogy, Poovey suggests that today's fact is just as arbitrary as ancient ones.

    So, five stars for the subject matter and her Foucauldian historiography focusing on noticability and evolving styles of reasoning rather than the typical history's hunt for actors and origins. Three stars for her writing, which is often verbose, repetitive, and at times turgid. I'm really glad I read it, but just as glad I won't have to read it again.
    26 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Very cutting edge and insightful. Lovely writing that fits ...
    Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2017
    Very cutting edge and insightful. Lovely writing that fits the genre. Clever minds will make connections to today's world of accounting and finance.
    One person found this helpful
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