Introduzione

Abstract

The debate in italy about the role of science in History is criticised because it emphasizes philosophy heavily and neglects genuine histotical analysis. In this regard Forman's papers are held to be of value. Moreover,they deal with science in Weimar Germany,an aspect of that historical period which is usually overlooked, even though interest in the Weimar Republic is at its height in Italy just now. Finally Forman's approach to the history of science is confronted by the program for an integral historical reconstruction proposed by Italian scholars who are moved by a serious interest in the radical transformation of contemporary science and its mode of organisation.