As historians, we have both been immersed for many years in trying to understand and write about South Africa’s complex, conflictual history. Conquest, colonial domination and racial division in the shape of apartheid played a central role. So too did the rise of black opposition and the transition in 1994 to an African National Congress government.
There were many strands in the weaving of this history, some neglected in the focus on race and political power. These include the profound role that science and technology played in shaping South Africa’s history. In our new book, The Scientific Imagination in South Africa, 1700 to the Present, we offer a historical overview of scientific ideas, practices and institutions in South Africa over more than three centuries.
.png?w=600)
