Symposium on Scientific Diplomacy at the 8th Conference of the European Society for the History of Science (London, September 14-17, 2018)

The symposium "When Science Diplomacy Divides" was a part of the 8th Conference of the European Society for the History of Science (London, September 14-17, 2018). The conference was held at the Institute of Education (University College London), at the Royal Institution and the Science Museum. Conference meetings were attended by over 700 scientists from around the world, and over 500 presentations were made. There were 94 symposiums and 6 round tables. The symposium on scientific diplomacy was organized by the Commission on Science, Technology and Diplomacy of the Department of the History of Science and Technology of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology. The direct organizers of the symposium were Matthew Adamson (MacDaniel College, Hungary), Sam Robinson (University of York, United Kingdom) and Simone Turchetti (University of Manchester, United Kingdom). The symposium on the history of science diplomacy brought together many scientists studying various aspects of science, technology and diplomacy at the international and transnational levels. The symposium was divided into five sessions (two were held on September 15, the other three on September 16). Eighteen historians of science from Great Britain, Russia, China, USA, Italy, Portugal, France, Germany and others made presentations. The last session of the symposium was the Commission on Science, Technology and Diplomacy organizational meeting. The plan of the Commission activities for the coming years was discussed. In general, the work of the symposium showed the unrelenting interest of the world historical-scientific community to the problems of scientific diplomacy in all its multidimensionality. Instead of simply demonstrating their factual material on the positive consequences of science diplomacy, the symposium participants presented analytical studies and new interpretations of the previously studied issues.