Dear List-members Does any member of this list have expertise in the history of = accountancy, or know of anyone with such expertise, and interest in the = following topic? The 'Dissent in Science' seminar series at the Centre for Philosophy of = Natural and Social Science (LSE), organised by Valeria Mosini, has spent = the last 18 months looking at the issue of the concept of equilibrium in = economics. We have explored the topic from many perspectives, but it = occurs to us that there is one more interesting possibility. Mary = Poovey starts the first substantive chapter of her 'History of the = modern fact' (an epistemological history of political economy) with the = statement that "since at least the 17th century sciences of wealth and = society have been pervaded by the metaphor of book-keeping". Much of = the chapter is concerned with the trope of 'balance' introduced with = double-entry book-keeping in the 16th century. It would be great if we = could get a historian of accountancy to talk about the contribution of = the metaphor of "balancing the books" to the development of modern ideas = of equilibrium - if indeed there is any such link. Does anyone have any ideas? Regards Andy Denis