Science studies in physical geography

Abstract

Science studies perspectives are largely absent in research on the making of physical geography. In this paper I outline literature from the history and sociology of science that may prove useful both in filling this gap, and in ‘bridging the divide’ between human and physical geography. I begin with an overview of work that argues for science studies in human geography, physical geography and the history of geology. I then discuss a series of science studies approaches that address questions such as the following. How are the social worlds of science constituted? How do new scientific disciplines emerge and change? How do different groups in a discipline view/contest research? How are scientific identities and careers formed? How does laboratory culture shape the practice of science? How is science distinguished from non-science? How do scientific biographies reflect and change the ‘spirit of the age’? Drawing on a biographical science studies approach, I examine key aspects of the life and work of the eminent river scientist Luna Leopold (1915–2006). This then leads to a discussion of the geographical imagination, and particularly how this is grounded in the sociological imagination – where history and biography are entwined. I argue that Leopold’s life and writings provide valuable insights into developing ‘the geographical imagination’. In conclusion, my aim is to encourage students and researchers in the three fields of human geography, physical geography and science studies to use the ‘view from the river’ of science studies in research on the making and shaping of physical geography.