Historians usually consider “scientific history” to begin with the German empiricist Leopold von Ranke in the 19th century. Crosby, however, suggested the use of scientific ideas to change the way historians look at the past. We do not often try to view history from the point of view of microbes or wheat or weeds. The zebra mussel has hitchhiked on our global trade systems and used us to dramatically expand its population and geographical range. If we view the history of inland waterways from the point of view of the zebra mussel, we get a picture of how a non-human organism can change the course of history that Crosby would have approved of.

Source: The Irish Times May 09, 2018 23:01 UTC