David Edgerton (historian)


Professor David Edgerton is an English historian and educator. He was educated at St John's College, Oxford, and Imperial College London. After teaching the economics of science and technology and the history of science and technology at the University of Manchester, he became the founding director of the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at Imperial College, London, and Hans Rausing Professor. He has held a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust. In 2013, he led the move of the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine to the Department of History of King's College London.
One of Britain’s leading historians, Edgerton has published a number of works over 20 years which challenge conventional analyses of science and technology. Significant among them are Warfare State: Britain 1920–1970 and The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History since 1900. He has written for such publications as Prospect, the London Review of Books, Nature, Times Higher Education Supplement, and The Guardian, and has often appeared on television and radio.

Selected publications

David Edgerton has published both articles and several books, including: