Science took place both thanks to and in spite of the age of revolutions. In Philadelphia, the era saw the creation of the American colonies’ first hospital and school of medicine. Collaboration between astronomers, instrument-makers, and surveyors benefited from increased association-building activity that marked the period. Engineers and electrical experimenters endeavored to solve problems like access to clean drinking water and energy storage. Yet, the optimism and problem-solving impulses of this age of scientific revolutions also exploited inequalities and refracted power dynamics, making science a useful lens for exploring the impact of the age of revolutions on science and society.

As the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence drives increased interest in the founding of the United States, this conference, co-hosted by the American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum and the Science History Institute aims to widen the scope of such conversations. Inspired in part by the APS’s 2025 exhibition, Philadelphia: The Revolutionary City and “America’s Scientific Revolutionaries,” a multiyear project funded by the Lounsbery Foundation we invite proposals from scholars from all disciplines whose research illuminates the intersections of science and society in the Atlantic World between 1764 and 1804. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):

-Everyday scientific practices, especially those that shed light on less prominent individuals and their networks
-Social aspects of scientific societies
-Impacts of disease on society
-Timely innovations in sciences like astronomy, anatomy, electricity, evolution, botany, and others
-Intersections between medical interventions and political ideologies
-Advancements in medicine and technology, especially as they relate to war
-Contributions of scientific knowledge and expertise from historically underrepresented communities
-New directions in histories of early modern science that engage with interdisciplinary methodologies including (but not limited to) disability studies, medical humanities, environmental humanities, digital humanities, research creation, animal studies, etc.
-The afterlives of scientific developments with origins in the revolutionary era.
Applicants should submit a title and a 250-word proposal along with a C.V. by March 3, 2025 via Interfolio (https://apply.interfolio.com/161651).

Decisions will be announced by April 2025.

The conference will be held September 25-26, 2025 in Philadelphia, PA. All presenters will receive travel subsidies and hotel accommodations. Accepted papers will be due a month before the conference and pre-circulated to registered attendees. Papers should be no longer than 15 double-spaced pages. Presenters may also have the opportunity to publish revised papers in the APS’s Transactions.

For more information, contact Brenna Holland, Assistant Director of Library & Museum Programs at bholland@amphilsoc.org.