The idea behind this book grew out of a research project launched by the international group STEP (Science and Technology in the European Peripheries), established in 1999 by historians of science from Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Russia, Sweden and Denmark. The aim has been to re-examine the historical, and we might also add, the geographical character of science and technology and their institutions in regions and societies within Europe, usually outside mainstream historical analysis. The intended activities of the group have been framed by the following issues:...