How does the modern economy shape the production of knowledge? Is science truly a disinterested body of knowledge, detached from the politics of its time? In what ways do science, technology, and their entrepreneurs influence how we organize society, relate to one another, and imagine futures? And conversely, how does society shape the practice and business of science? This course engages these questions by examining the intersections between modern science and capitalism. Spanning from the 1600s to the present, we will explore how modern science emerged alongside profit-driven exchange and its culmination into imperialism, the stealing of indigenous lands, the establishment of slave plantations and factories, and the wars that have defined the modern era, especially World War II and the Cold War. In studying these transformations, we will revisit a central debate once popular among historians of science: Was the ‘Scientific Revolution’ capitalist? This question will serve as an anchor for exploring both historical events and contemporary anxieties surrounding how corporations (the fossil fuel industry, big pharma, agricultural biotechnology companies, and Silicon Valley, among others) shape what kinds of knowledge are deemed legitimate, and which are dismissed or marginalized. The course will end by considering whether contemporary geopolitical tensions—particularly between the United States and China—are driven by concerns over technoscientific progress and its implications for global economic power. Will this be the undoing of the ‘Great Divergence’ between the West and the Non-West?