Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life (Princeton Classics) Paperback – September 4, 2011

I'm very glad this book is back in print, because I bought a very expensive copy several years ago just so I could own it.This is one of the best books I've ever read - fictional or non: a compelling, impossibly sophisticated account of history, science, philosophy, and epistemology. A continuing project of Shapin, he hopes to tease out what we now call "knowledge" based on its originating arguments. The writers find a helpful debate and metaphor for their project that guides us through these complex exchanges: air. Simply put, can their actually be such a thing as nothing? Thomas Hobbes argued no, while Robert Boyle argued more persuasively that yes, there could be, and used his air pump to show it.When I began reading it, if you had told me that a book about debates between 17th Century plenists and vacuists would hold my attention, I would have laughed. It's not why I chose to study the period. But LEVIATHAN AND THE AIR PUMP does it in such a way that's engaging and profound, reminding us of the significance of the figures involved and the way the implications of their quarrel continues to affect us today. It is, indeed, the "modest witness" who is the precursor to what we now understand as scientific objectivity; it continues to be so, and its privileged status is rarely questioned in the way that Hobbes chose. And yet this quarrel is not lacking in political and spiritual inhibitions.This is an exciting book, one that any academic should hope to write. Its influence is large and has spawned a sub-field that has continued Shapin's original inquiry, both in fascinating critique (Donna Haraway) and an extended project (Bruno Latour's WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MODERN). Occasionally dense, but told like a story in which the actors are at once larger-than-life and seem intimately familiar.

Its strengths and weaknesses. Greatbook

The story is both entertaining and informative. I forget where I had first heard about this book but it had been on my reading list for a couple of years; finally got around to purchasing a copy and this one was in good condition with easy-to-read text and clear illustrations. It's not geared for the casual reader - footnotes abound and scarcely a page goes by without some sort of cross-reference, but to me this shows that the author put a lot of effort into making the story accurate and citing well-rooted sources.

The authors begin their review of the 17th-century Hobbes-Boyle controversy by declaring their intent to judge Hobbes and his opponents by different standards, so it is not surprising that they end by concluding (p344) that "Hobbes was right".Their stated reason for adapting a pro-Hobbes stance is that the opposite view (that Hobbes was wrong) has been so thoroughly documented that not much new could be added. Only by adopting a "charitable" view of Hobbes, and a critical view of his opponents, could they make a significant new contribution. They wanted to make a splash, not a ripple!Their bias is expressed by selective omission of information unfavorable to Hobbes. In particular, readers are not informed that a "Torricelli apparatus" and a "mercury barometer" are functionally identical; the height of the mercury column varies with altitude and weather conditions. The temporal variability was predicted and observed by Torricelli, a decade before Boyle built his air pump. But Shapin and Shaffer do not even mention it, except in connection with a suggestion (p164) that one experimenter may have fudged his data. These variations were inexplicable to Hobbes, and falsified his theory.[There is evidence here of a missed opportunity. Boyle's air pump was very expensive, but the Torricelli apparatus was much cheaper. If Boyle and his associates had improved it for ruggedness, portability, and easy reading, made and distributed many copies, and recorded and compared the temporal variations at different locations (or in the same locality) they could have conclusively proved the atmospheric-pressure theory, popularized it beyond dispute, and jump-started the infant science of meteorology.]Also, the authors should have noted that Hobbes's a-priori rationalist "demonstrative" philosophy is not a viable alternative to observation and experiment, because it is based on an elementary logical fallacy: one cannot make up definitions and postulates arbitrarily AND claim that deductions from them give certainty about the real world.Their final remark is worth quoting in full: "As we come to recognize the conventional and artifactual status of our forms of knowing, we put ourselves in a position to realize that it is ourselves and not reality that is responsible for what we know. Knowledge, as much as the state, is the product of human actions. Hobbes was right."But this remark is more premise than conclusion, since they began by saying (p14) that "'Truth'. 'adequacy', and 'objectivity' will be dealt with as accomplishments, as historical products, as actor's judgments and categories. They will be topics for our inquiry, not resources unreflectingly to be used in that inquiry." A clearer statement of the postmodern doctrine of "social construction" of science, truth, and reality could hardly be made.

This book is a classic! Tells a story that was little understood (before the book was written) about the development of experimentalscience in the 17th century (the scientific revolution) and has great relevance for today's discussions about science, "theory" and belief.The controversies between the philosophy/scientist Thomas Hobbes and the scientist/philosopher Robert Boyle and their colleaguesshow how difficult it is to establish facts, and how little people who are not directly involved in doing science understand the process.

This is a history not to be missed discussed to a faretherwell as the excitement and inspiration of open scientific explorations became the attraction opening the door to science full out for sale. Seeing became believing when believing called for seeing. Kary Mullis's TED appearance sold me on this book and more.

Incredibly eye opening, highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of ideas.

Good book. You can read it over and over and get something different out of it each time. Recommend for anyone studying or interested in Science and Technology.

I haven't time for all this I am very pleased with all my purchases you would hear from me if I wasn't

Leviathan and the air pump is a masterful account of how scientific controversies are constructed and, ultimately, won or lost. Shapin and Schaffer use the well known air-pump experiments of the 1660's, wrought by Boyle, and the objections of Thomas Hobbes to the method by which the experiments were conducted, which were all but lost to the inevitable bias that a winners account creates. The authors show that the conclusion of this particular episode in scientific history had as much to do with the social, political and material conditions of the time, and importantly, the air pump itself, than it did with the rightness or wrongness of any particular experiment and proof of concept. Excellent book.

There's a very good reason why this book is a classic text in science studies.

I leave it in random places throughout the apartment for her to find, and she is always delighted. It then keeps her occupied for hours on end. The perfect gift for your girlfriend.

Hardback first edition just what I expected