"What does science owe children, and how can the history of science contribute to repaying that debt?" This question motivates the 2026 volume of Osiris, entitled " Histories of Science and Childhoods ." Edited by Andrea Graus, Violeta Ruiz, and Elisabeth M. Yang, the volume features a collection of articles that examine the interrelation of two categories: childhood and science.
In the editors' introduction, Graus, Ruiz, and Yang lay out their vision for the volume and foreground childhood studies as a useful theoretical framework with which to approach the history of science, medicine, and technology. They argue that history of science scholarship related to childhood has mainly privileged the West and Global North, and it has tended to take a "top-down" approach—that is, minimizing or erasing the voices of actual children. The editors point out that even the concept of "childhood" is not universal, as it relies on an ableist, colonial, and heteronormative conception of chronological time and age. Articles in the volume challenge these norms and assumptions by bringing together a creative array of source material and disciplinary perspectives.
Since the European Enlightenment, scientific knowledge about children has informed developments in technology, medicine, education, and social policy—developments that have profoundly impacted children's lives and experiences. But rather than viewing science as unilaterally acting upon children and notions of childhood, the editors and contributors of Osiris 41 offer up a more dynamic way of understanding this relationship. Articles in the volume argue that "child and childhood create and act in and upon science and those who practice it." By treating children as "fully fledged historical actors," the editors suggest, we can gain a new, more diverse perspective on the history of science that recognizes children's influence and contributions.
The volume is comprised of three main sections. Firstly, a cluster of articles focuses on the notion of children's agency, using varied sources to historicize and problematize this concept. Another section examines the technologies and politics of child health. A third section highlights the entangled relationship between childhood and science, exploring how ideas about childhood have shaped scientific thinking. To conclude the volume, a final essay unpacks the assertion that "every child is a scientist."
Taken together, the contributions in Osiris 41 paint a picture of childhood as a "relational category"—a subjective concept defined in terms of what it is not. They ask readers to consider how and why we study science and how we choose objects of study. They suggest new ways to think about agency and its relationship to historical change. As the editors write: "Our hope is that this volume signifies the emergence of a new paradigm, one that conjoins the histories of science and childhood studies and promotes truly interdisciplinary—and in turn, transdisciplinary—work that bears not just the virtues of intellect but also that of moral beneficence, especially toward the marginalized and vulnerable."
Founded in 1936 by George Sarton, and relaunched by the History of Science Society in 1985, Osiris is an annual thematic journal that highlights research on significant themes in the history of science.
Founded in 1924, the History of Science Society is the world's largest society dedicated to understanding science, technology, medicine, and their interactions with society in historical context.
