Science and Culture

by Alan MacFarlane

Published 2 December 2021

Science and Culture: Lisa Jardine, Jean Michel Massing and Simon Schaffer is a collection of interviews that are being published as a book for the first time. These interviews have been conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane.

Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions form a part of a larger set of interviews that cut across various disciplines, from the social sciences and the sciences to the performing and visual arts. The current volume is on three foremost historians of science.

All civilizations throughout history have both produced and accumulated knowledge. This inquisitiveness about learning, and about nature, is reflected in science and culture. Renaissance thinkers such as Galilei Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton were the ‘first true scientists’ of the modern world. Lisa Jardine, Jean Michel Massing and Simon Schaffer bring to life their own enriching experiences and show us that the future of science cannot be determined without taking into account its philosophical problems and the study of complexities associated with it.
The book will be of enormous value not just to those interested in the subject of History of Science and Philosophy, Archaeology and Ethnocultural Studies but also who are curious to learn how civilizations and their cultures impact the study of science.

Please note: This title is co-published with Social Science Press, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.


History, Culture and Ethnography: Jack Goody, Clifford Geertz and Philippe Descola is a collection of interviews that is being published as a book for the first time. These interviews have been conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane.

Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions form a part of a larger set of interviews that cut across various disciplines, from the social sciences and the sciences to the performing and visual arts. The current volume is on three of the world’s most eminent social and cultural anthropologists.

These conversations focus primarily on fieldwork experience in Ghana, Indonesia and Amazonia and how new dimensions and interpretations were added to the discipline of sociology and social anthropology. While Jack Goody and Clifford Geertz gave a new turn and depth to the disciple through their experiences in West Africa and Indonesia, Philippe Descola, who belongs to the succeeding generation of anthropologists, added human-nature interactions into the mix.

This book talks about both overcoming and understanding the importance of taking into account linguistic, historical, economic and cultural elements in the study of these societies through engaging conversations and occasional anecdotes. Immensely riveting as conversations, this collection gives one a flavour of the many different societies and cultures in far-flung reaches of the world encompassing several continents, often with no knowledge of each other’s existence, and a taste of how expansive the discipline of sociology and social anthropology are.

The book will be of enormous value not just to those interested in the fields of Sociology, Social Anthropology and Ethnography, but also those with an interest in History, Philosophy, Comparative Religion and Cultural Studies.

Please note: This title is co-published with Social Science Press, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.


Of Poverty and Wealth

by Alan MacFarlane

Published 1 December 2021

Of Poverty and Wealth: Eric Hobsbawm, Barry Supple and Gareth Stedman Jones is a collection of interviews that is being published as a book for the first time. These interviews have been conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane.

Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions form a part of a larger set of interviews that cut across various disciplines, from the social sciences and the sciences to the performing and visual arts. The current volume is on three pre-eminent economic historians.

There are many factors that lead to the rise and fall of power, in which wealth, trade and commerce, play a vital role. In this collection, Eric Hobsbawm takes us through the fundamental and broader concepts of economic history, while Barry Supple and Gareth Stedman Jones bring in the more focussed and often less discussed aspects of this branch of history. Through these engaging conversations one gets a better understanding of poverty and wealth in the context of history.

The book will be of enormous value not just to those interested in the subject of Economics History and Comparative Studies but also to the uninitiated because of the lucidity which conversations bring to even otherwise opaque discussions.

Please note: This title is co-published with Social Science Press, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.


Law and Justice

by Alan MacFarlane

Published 9 November 2021

Law and Justice: Thomas Bingham, Nicholas Phillips and Eleanor Sharpston is the first time a collection of interviews is being published as a book. These interviews have been conducted by one of England's leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane.

Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions also form part of a larger set of interviews that cut across various disciplines, from the social sciences, the sciences and the performing and visual arts. The current volume is on three of Britain's foremost lawyers and judges.

Law and justice are an intrinsic part of any civilization, ancient or modern. English law traces its origins to medieval times, at times drawing on ancient legal systems prevalent in Roman and Anglo-Saxon laws. This tradition has had a huge influence across the world through export to the United States and throughout the nations of the former British Empire. The three conversations in this volume further reflect how interconnected the disciplines of history and law are. Thomas Bingham, Nicholas Phillips and Eleanor Sharpston give a wide sketch of the legal system through their own experiences and interpretations. They show how one of the single most important and unique features of British civilization works.

The book will be of enormous value not just to those interested in the subject of Law and Justice but also History and Culture Studies as well as those with an interest in Legal Literature.

Please note: This title is co-published with Social Science Press, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.


Historical Ethnography and Peasant Societies: McKim Marriott, James Scott and Maurice Bloch is a collection of interviews that is being published as a book for the first time. These interviews have been conducted by a leading British social anthropologist and historian, Professor Alan Macfarlane. Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are a part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions cut across various disciplines, from the social sciences and the sciences to the performing and visual arts. The current volume is on three of the world’s most eminent sociologists and anthropologists – McKim Marriott, James Scott and Maurice Bloch.

These interviews extend the disciplines of sociology and anthropology, moving on from when fieldwork was somewhat limited to the concentration of a civilization or community’s past, and how it fits within the historical context of the discipline. Since then, it has expanded to one where peasant cultures and communities have become the focal point of study.

McKim Marriott, James Scott and Maurice Bloch talk about both overcoming and understanding the importance of fieldwork—considering linguistic, historical, economic and cultural elements in the study of these societies through their engaging conversations and occasional anecdotes. Immensely riveting as conversations, this collection gives a flavour of the many different societies and cultures in far-flung reaches of the world encompassing several continents, often with no knowledge of each other’s existence, and of how expansive the disciple of sociology and social anthropology is.

The book will be of enormous value not just to those interested in the subject of Sociology, Social Anthropology and Ethnography, but also to those with an avid interest in History, Culture Studies as well as those with a general interest in learning about other societies.

Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan).


The Science of Life

by Alan MacFarlane

Published 9 December 2022

The Science of Life: Andrew Huxley, Richard Keynes and Horace Barlow is part of the series Creative Lives and Works. It is a collection of interviews conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane. Filmed over a period of 40 years, the three conversations in this volume are part of a larger set of interviews that cut across various disciplines—from the social sciences, the sciences, to the performing and visual arts. The current volume on two of England’s foremost physiologists and a vision scientist is yet another addition to the series of several such books.

These Cambridge men of science, Sir Andrew Huxley, Richard Keynes and Horace Barlow, apart from shaping certain very fundamental and critical elements in the disciplines of Physiology and Neuroscience also belong to illustrious lineages. Sir Andrew Huxley, for instance is a direct descendant of T.H. Huxley, while Richard Keynes and Horace Barlow are both the great grandsons of Charles Darwin.

Their conversations greatly expand our understanding of physiology and neuroscience. The book will be of very great value not just to those interested in Physiology, Medicine and Neuroscience. The interviews also take us into a fascinating period of Cambridge Science, dominated by certain key families of distinguished thinkers.

Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan or Bhutan).