Simon Schaffer

9.3k total citations · 2 hit papers
82 papers, 4.2k citations indexed

About

Simon Schaffer is a scholar working on History and Philosophy of Science, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Philosophy. According to data from OpenAlex, Simon Schaffer has authored 82 papers receiving a total of 4.2k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 34 papers in History and Philosophy of Science, 13 papers in Astronomy and Astrophysics and 11 papers in Philosophy. Recurrent topics in Simon Schaffer's work include History of Science and Medicine (17 papers), History of Science and Natural History (11 papers) and History and Developments in Astronomy (10 papers). Simon Schaffer is often cited by papers focused on History of Science and Medicine (17 papers), History of Science and Natural History (11 papers) and History and Developments in Astronomy (10 papers). Simon Schaffer collaborates with scholars based in United Kingdom, United States and Germany. Simon Schaffer's co-authors include Steven Shapin, James G. Traynham, I. Bernard Cohen, David Gooding, Trevor Pinch, Owen Hannaway, Michael Hunter, Bruno Latour, Lissa Roberts and P R Dear and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews and The American Historical Review.

In The Last Decade

Simon Schaffer

75 papers receiving 3.3k citations

Hit Papers

Leviathan and the Air-Pum... 1987 2026 2000 2013 1987 1987 400 800 1.2k
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life
    1987 1.3k citations James G. Traynham, Steven Shapin et al. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History profile →
  2. Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life
    1987 1.1k citations Steven Shapin, Simon Schaffer et al. profile →

Author Peers

Peers are selected by citation overlap in the author's most active subfields. citations · hero ref

Author Last Decade Papers Cites
Simon Schaffer 1.5k 979 575 456 347 82 4.2k
Lorraine Daston 1.4k 0.9× 1.1k 1.1× 515 0.9× 748 1.6× 394 1.1× 183 5.2k
Peter Galison 1.2k 0.8× 859 0.9× 175 0.3× 233 0.5× 239 0.7× 78 4.2k
Steven Shapin 2.5k 1.7× 2.4k 2.5× 934 1.6× 929 2.0× 768 2.2× 117 8.7k
David Livingstone 669 0.4× 1.2k 1.2× 430 0.7× 418 0.9× 133 0.4× 141 3.5k
Londa Schiebinger 447 0.3× 1.4k 1.4× 315 0.5× 381 0.8× 170 0.5× 115 6.4k
Peter J. Bowler 1.1k 0.8× 587 0.6× 246 0.4× 242 0.5× 165 0.5× 124 2.6k
Michael Lynch 432 0.3× 1.9k 2.0× 218 0.4× 185 0.4× 369 1.1× 179 6.2k
Thomas F. Gieryn 602 0.4× 3.8k 3.9× 258 0.4× 179 0.4× 460 1.3× 57 8.8k
Harry Collins 890 0.6× 2.9k 3.0× 183 0.3× 64 0.1× 600 1.7× 173 7.8k
J. E. McGuire 777 0.5× 983 1.0× 192 0.3× 63 0.1× 486 1.4× 40 5.2k

Countries citing papers authored by Simon Schaffer

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Simon Schaffer's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Simon Schaffer with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Simon Schaffer more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Simon Schaffer

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Simon Schaffer. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Simon Schaffer. The network helps show where Simon Schaffer may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Simon Schaffer

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Simon Schaffer. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Simon Schaffer based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Simon Schaffer. Simon Schaffer is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Schaffer, Simon. (2022). Orientations and Disorientations in the History of Science How Measures Made a Difference at the Imperial Meridian. Centaurus. 64(4). 829–856. 1 indexed citations
2.
Schaffer, Simon. (2019). Traveling Machines and Colonial Times. Archives de sciences sociales des religions. 187. 171–190. 1 indexed citations
3.
Schaffer, Simon. (2017). Oriental Metrology and the Politics of Antiquity in Nineteenth-Century Survey Sciences. Science in Context. 30(2). 173–212. 6 indexed citations
4.
Schaffer, Simon, John Tresch, & Pasquale Gagliardi. (2017). Aesthetics of Universal Knowledge. 2 indexed citations
5.
Craciun, Adriana & Simon Schaffer. (2016). The Material Cultures of Enlightenment Arts and Sciences. Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks. 10 indexed citations
6.
Schaffer, Simon. (2014). La fabrique des sciences modernes. Seuil eBooks. 8 indexed citations
7.
Diemberger, Hildegard, Kirsten Hastrup, Simon Schaffer, et al.. (2012). Communicating Climate Knowledge. Current Anthropology. 53(2). 226–244. 22 indexed citations
8.
Schaffer, Simon. (2011). The laird of physics. Nature. 471(7338). 289–291. 3 indexed citations
9.
Schaffer, Simon. (2011). Easily Cracked: Scientific Instruments in States of Disrepair. Isis. 102(4). 706–717. 26 indexed citations
10.
Schaffer, Simon. (2010). The astrological roots of mesmerism. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. 41(2). 158–168. 5 indexed citations
11.
Schaffer, Simon. (2010). Opposition is True Friendship. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 35(3-4). 277–290. 7 indexed citations
12.
Shapin, Steven & Simon Schaffer. (1999). On Bad History:. Social Studies of Science. 29(2). 257–259. 1 indexed citations
13.
Shapin, Steven, Simon Schaffer, & Thomas Hobbes. (1993). Leviathan et la pompe à air : hobbes et boyle entre science et politique. 19 indexed citations
14.
Schaffer, Simon. (1989). The Glorious Revolution and medicine in Britain and the Netherlands. Notes and Records the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science. 43(2). 167–190. 6 indexed citations
15.
Hunter, Michael & Simon Schaffer. (1989). Robert Hooke: new studies. 63 indexed citations
16.
Schaffer, Simon. (1988). Wallifaction: Thomas Hobbes on school divinity and experimental pneumatics. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A. 19(3). 275–298. 7 indexed citations
17.
Traynham, James G., Steven Shapin, & Simon Schaffer. (1987). Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 18(2). 351–351. 1284 indexed citations breakdown →
18.
Schaffer, Simon. (1984). Priestley's Questions: An Historiography Survey. History of Science. 22(2). 151–183. 13 indexed citations
19.
Schaffer, Simon. (1982). Essay Review: The Newtonian Revolution Revisited: The Newtonian Revolution. History of Science. 20(2). 140–144.
20.
Schaffer, Simon. (1977). Halley’s Atheism and the end of the world. Notes and Records the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science. 32(1). 17–40. 13 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

Explore authors with similar magnitude of impact

Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Lorraine Daston Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Peter Galison Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Steven Shapin Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by David Livingstone Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Londa Schiebinger Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Peter J. Bowler Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Michael Lynch Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Thomas F. Gieryn Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Harry Collins Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by J. E. McGuire
Rankless by CCL
2026