Research and Affiliations

Dennis Danielson

Professor

Department of English

University of British Columbia

danielso<at>interchange.ubc.ca

We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.
           -Maria Mitchell (1818-1889)

Current research:

My recent research has focused on the history of science, especially the history of Copernicanism, from a textual and humanities point of view. While trying to grasp scientific developments accurately, I have sought to examine them in their historical, philosophical, and literary (including narrative) contexts. These efforts have repeatedly led me to reexamine and sometimes to translate or retranslate documents that embody science history or interpret it to a wider audience. Part of the delight I find in this kind of endeavor arises from opportunities I have had to “listen” carefully to the voices of those who lived and wrote hundreds of years ago—to taste their trials and passions—and from the opportunities that I have had in turn to share the thoughts and lives of such writers with readers today. A glance at my lists of lectures and publications I hope offers a glimpse of the serious fun I’ve been having.

Affiliations:

American Astronomical Society (associate member)

Historical Astronomy Division of the AAS

Canadian Science Writers’ Association

American Scientific Affiliation

Milton Society of America

British Society for the History of Science