Some people use them as doorstops, a few even for weightlifting, and others actually read them! In this podcast episode we talk about books—or specifically, handbooks and manuals. From cooking to chemistry, these seemingly simple objects provide knowledge in a structured and standardized order. Yet despite their ubiquity and centuries-long history, many of us today are more likely to sit down in front of our computer and google "How To...".
In this episode of Science Social, host Stephanie Hood chats with historians Mathias Grote and Elaine Leong about manuals, handbooks, and how we have gathered, framed, and used knowledge on a daily basis. Are handbooks still relevant when we have almost-instant access to YouTube tutorials? Is the cellphone the modern equivalent of a manual? How has knowledge been democratized, today and in the past? Are handbooks always neutral information? And how do we define what knowledge is reliable, especially in the digital realm?
About Mathias Grote: http://bit.ly/MathiasGrote
About Elaine Leong: https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/users/eleong
This podcast episode is based on the Learning by the Book project and edited British Journal for the History of Science (BJHS) volume by Angela Creager, Mathias Grote, and Elaine Leong. It has received funding from the German Historical Institute in Washington, Princeton University, and the MPIWG. Many thanks also go to the British Society for the History of Science for making the book volume open access, and to Simon Werrett and team at the BJHS for the pleasant and smooth production process of the book!
About Angela Creager: http://bit.ly/AngelaCreager
Read BJHS Themes - Learning by the Book Open Access Volume: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjhs-themes
German Historical Institute in Washington: https://www.ghi-dc.org/
British Society for the History of Science: https://www.bshs.org.uk
This podcast is produced by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de
Follow us on https://twitter.com/MPIWG
Host: Stephanie Hood
Concept and sound editing by Verena Braun
Theme song by Podington Bear, CC NY-NC 3.0
