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Theodore Porter

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Theodore Porter
Porter at the 2007 History of Science Society meeting
Born
Theodore M. Porter

1953 (age 70–71)
NationalityAmerican
EducationStanford University (AB)
Princeton University (PhD)
OccupationHistorian
AwardsGeorge Sarton Medal (2023)

Theodore M. Porter (born 1953) is a professor who specializes in the history of science in the Department of History at UCLA. He has authored several books, including The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900; and Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life, the latter a vast reference for sociology of quantification.[1][2] His most recent book, published by Princeton University Press in 2018, is Genetics in the Madhouse: The Unknown History of Human Heredity. He graduated from Stanford University with an A.B. in history in 1976 and earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1981. In 2008, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[3] In 2023, he received the George Sarton Medal for lifetime achievement from the History of Science Society.[4]

Works

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  • The Rise of Statistical Thinking (1986)[5]
  • Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life (1995)[6]
  • The Modern Social Sciences, with Dorothy Ross (2003)
  • Karl Pearson: The Scientific Life in a Statistical Age (2004)
  • Genetics in the Madhouse: The Unknown History of Human Heredity (2018)[7]
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Notes and references

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  1. ^ E. Popp Berman and D. Hirschman, “The Sociology of Quantification: Where Are We Now?,” Contemp. Sociol., vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 257–266, 2018.
  2. ^ Mennicken, A., & Espeland, W. N. (2019). What’s New with Numbers? Sociological Approaches to the Study of Quantification. Annual Review of Sociology, 45(1), 223–245.
  3. ^ Faculty Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences — History Archived 2008-07-26 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Sepkoski, David (July 20, 2023). "2023 Sarton Medalist: Ted Porter". History of Science Society. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  5. ^ Daston, L. (1987). The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900 by Theodore M. Porter. Isis, 78, 272–274.
  6. ^ Ravetz, J. R. (1997). In Numbers We Trust | Issues in Science and Technology. Issues in Science and Technology, 13(2). Retrieved from https://issues.org/ravetz/
  7. ^ Carter, N. (2020). Genetics in the madhouse: the unknown history of human heredity. Disability & Society, 35(4), 691–692.


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