Steven Shapin > Quotes

“Selection is a necessary feature of any historical story, and there can be no such thing as definitive or exhaustive history, however much space the historian takes to write about any passage of the past. [...] That is to say, there is inevitably something of "us" in the stories we tell about the past. This is the historian's predicament, and it is foolish to think there is some method, however well intentioned, that can extricate us from this predicament.”
― Steven Shapin, The Scientific Revolution

“there is inevitably something of "us" in the stories we tell about the past. This is the historian's predicament, and it is foolish to think there is some method, however well intentioned, that can extricate us from this predicament. (p. 10, paperback edition)”
― Steven Shapin, The Scientific Revolution