The Great Tradition of writing about what came to be called The Scientific Revolution developed in the mid-twentieth century and helped to shape what came to be termed “early modern” Europe. At least two fundamental structural elements of the framework were that a small group of independent minds had been set free to grasp new truths, and that rivalries among many groups in Europe never allowed “European civilization” to achieve homeostasis, thus continuing to encourage innovation in conditions of freedom. It is worth noting, however, that the first of these structural elements had religious overtones that were important in the early stages of the Cold War, and that the second placed innovation within a tradition of great texts rather than material culture and practice. Both changed the earlier conversation of the 1930s, which had been about political economies, connecting the new history of science to a history that offered to explain European superiority on the basis of the search for truth. Recent developments in global history, which are rooted in economic histories, challenge such a framing. The brand-name of The Scientific Revolution is common and will remain a useful short-hand, but its meaning requires major revision and should not be limited to the history of Europe.

中文翻译：

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肉体一词的问题：欧洲科学革命的伟大传统

关于后来被称为“科学革命”的写作的伟大传统在 20 世纪中叶发展起来，并帮助塑造了后来被称为“早期现代”的欧洲。该框架的至少两个基本结构要素是，一小部分独立思想被释放以掌握新的真​​理，欧洲许多群体之间的竞争从未让“欧洲文明”达到稳态，从而继续鼓励创新。自由的条件。然而，值得注意的是，这些结构元素中的第一个具有在冷战初期很重要的宗教色彩，第二个将创新置于伟大文本的传统中，而不是物质文化和实践中。两者都改变​​了 1930 年代早期的谈话，这一直是关于政治经济学的，将新科学史与在寻求真理的基础上解释欧洲优势的历史联系起来。植根于经济史的全球历史的最新发展挑战了这种框架。“科学革命”的品牌名称很常见，并将继续作为有用的速记，但其含义需要进行重大修改，不应仅限于欧洲历史。