HPSC Alumna Rebecca Jackson and coauthor Michele Luchetti were recently recognized as runners-up for the IUHPST Essay Prize in History and Philosophy of Science. Jackson and Luchetti's paper, "History and Philosophy of Measurement: Past, Present, and Future Integrations", provieded an overview and introduction to integrated history and philosophy of measurement and outlined promising lines of inquiry for moving the subfield forward, including a call to globalize case studies of measurement, bring more attention to measurement issues in human sciences, expand the eras under examination, incorporate more tools from neighboring disciplines, and reexamine the boundary problem of what constitutes measurement. See the blurb below posted by IUHPST
"Jackson and Luchetti’s essay provides a masterful and original overview of integrated history and philosophy of measurement (HPM) and discusses the challenges faced by this sub-field of HPS. It outlines several strategies for using history in the service of philosophical projects and vice versa that have been deployed in the HPM literature. For instance, in addition to using history as evidence for philosophy, philosophy can be used to clarify history or critique historiography. Jackson and Luchetti also highlight challenges to HPM. For instance, institutional barriers can hinder interdisciplinary collaboration. Further, we should expand HPM beyond the physical sciences to biomedical, psychological, and social sciences, where ethical and epistemic concerns are particularly pressing. We should also adopt a more global perspective and engage with science and technology studies. Doing so promises a refined and perhaps expansive notion of what constitutes “measurement,” one that is sensitive to multiple practices and disciplinary perspectives."
The College of Arts