Secrecy and the Self
Peter Galison is a professor of history of science at Harvard University where he teaches courses in history and philosophy of 20th-century physics; history and philosophy of experimentation; fascism, art and science in the interwar years; among others. His primary work explores the complex interaction between the three principal subcultures of twentieth century physics: experimentation, instrumentation, and theory. He also delves into many other scientific topics and their implications including secrecy, security, and surveillance and technoprivacy.
Galison has launched several projects examining the powerful cross-currents between science and other fields. For example, his book (with Lorraine Daston), Objectivity (Zone Books, 2007) asks how visual representation shaped the concept of scientific objectivity, and how atlases of scientific images continue, even today, to rework what counts as right depiction. Further work on the boundary between science and other fields includes his co-edited volumes on the relations between science, art and architecture.
A MacArthur Foundation Fellow, he is also a winner of the Max Planck Prize given by the Max Planck Gesellschaft and Humboldt Stiftung.
Professor Gailson will deliver the the 2017 Ricardo J. Quinones Lecture.