'This ambitious and eye-opening book takes two bold steps. In taking a step back, it traces how the rise of European science since the sixteenth century transformed the image of the universe, the role of humanity in the cosmos and thus the purposes of the state. In taking a step forward, it identifies the mechanisms that have made these changes possible. Beyond this creative combination of history and social science, Scientific Cosmology and International Orders reminds us again that creative thought about the past alerts us to the existence of unimaginable futures. Every tomorrow has its own history.' Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr, Professor of International Studies, Cornell University, New York
1. Introduction: science and the transformation of international politics; 2. Cosmology and change in international orders; 3. Natural philosophy in balance of power Europe, 1550–1815; 4. Darwin, social knowledge, and development in the British Colonial Office and the League of Nations, 1850–1945; 5. Neoclassical economics and the growth imperative in the world bank and postwar international order, 1945–2000; 6. Conclusion: the future of cosmological change.