The papers deals with methodological questions of writing a general history of science. We start by defining the scope of general history of science and its relation to general history, followed by a discussion on recent trends in history and philosophy of science. We also examine the impact of the developments in the humanities since the 1970s on disciplines reflecting on science. The second part of the paper focuses on the approach of science and politics as resources for one other, developed by Mitchell Ash, to describing scientific changes in times of radical regime upheavals. We also discuss the intersection between current science and politics framing historians as engaged intellectuals.