John Desmond Bernal and “Bernalism”

Abstract

This chapter focuses on John Desmond Bernal, whose work as a historian highlighted the socioeconomic dimension of science and technology. Bernal, a physicist by training, became interested in the history of science in the late 1930s, when he aimed to understand the role science played in contemporary society. Like other British scientists interested in the history of science, Bernal was struck by Boris Hessen’s historiographical view on the economic roots of modern science. When the most influential historians of science were focusing on the conceptual side of scientific development, Bernal stressed the role of craftsmen in the development of Western science. His work transcended the mere academic world. As early as 1956, Bernal was one of the promoters of a group of scientists who worked with the leadership of the Labour Party to elaborate the program of the future government.

Focusing on Bernal’s writings and on Bernal’s and Needham’s papers at the University of Cambridge, this chapter aims to assess Bernal’s historiographical approach in the light of the development of British scientific policy between the 1930s and the 1960s and of the debate on Marxism and history in Britain.