William Lynch

William Lynch

Department

History

Ph.D., Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University, 1996

Research interest(s)/area of expertise

• Science and Technology Studies
• Environmental History
• History of Evolutionary Science

Research

The New Sciences of Cultural Evolution

The Science and Politics of Chemical and Radiological Hazards in the Twentieth Century

Dissent and Diversity in Science

Education

• Ph.D., Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University, 1996
• M.A., Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University, 1993
• M.S., Science and Technology Studies, Virginia Tech, 1989
• B.S., Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1987

Selected publications

“Imre Lakatos and the Inexhaustible Atom: The Hidden Marxist Roots of History and Philosophy of Science,” Epistemology & Philosophy of Science, 55 (3), 2018, 25-34.

“After the Gold Rush: Cleaning Up after Steve Fuller’s Theosis,” Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 48 (5), 2018, 505–523.

"Cultural Evolution and Social Epistemology: A Darwinian Alternative to Steve Fuller’s Theodicy of Science." Social Epistemology, 31 (2), 2017, 224-34.

“Second-Guessing Scientists and Engineers: Post Hoc Criticism and the Reform of Practice in Green Chemistry and Engineering,” Science and Engineering Ethics, 21 (5), 2015, 1217-40.

“Thresholds of Change: Why Didn’t Green Chemistry Happen Sooner,” Technology’s Stories, Society for the History of Science, 3 (1): April 2015, http://www.technologystories.org.

Currently teaching

• HIS 1995, Nature and Societal Transitions (3 cr.)
• HIS 3585/HIS 5585, Science, Technology, and Society (3 cr.)
•  HIS 5540/7540: World Environmental History since 1900 (4 cr.)

Citation index

• 475 citations (Google Scholar)