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In total, one can see Sarton as occupying a middling place in the eventual distinctions that would become central in the history and philosophy of science as the century wore on: those between micro and macro-histories, those between rational, methodological reconstruction and an appreciation for the diversity of scientific practices, and the focus on the socio-cultural versus the rational forces behind scientific change and knowledge. This should not be surprising, however, for it reflects the central thrust of Sarton’s entire body of work: His wish to develop a “new humanism”, based on the unity of knowledge and cultural experience, reflecting the unity of mankind, and the broader unity of nature[[CiteRef::Cohen (1957)|p. 295]]. This idealist project, in the eyes of more contemporary historians, is appreciatively, though honestly, acknowledged to have been impossible within the context of the history of science[[CiteRef::Dear (2009)|p. 92]].

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