This chapter examines translation in the field of science in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries from a cultural history perspective, taking into account major contemporary trends in scientific activities, international relations, and translation. Various disciplinary, historical, and geographical contexts are considered. The first part of the chapter deals with translation as an integral part of the development of the mathematical, natural, and medical sciences in a global context: two case studies focus respectively on Taiwan’s popular science magazine Science Monthly and on medical translation into Arabic. The second part looks at translation as a factor in the historical processes that have shaped disciplines in the humanities and social sciences: shifting dynamics in the circulation of texts and knowledge between Europe and North America are explored; reversing the perspective, an analysis is provided of how Translation Studies itself developed as a discipline. Contrary to the assumption that scientific discourse, as well as its dissemination through translation, is neutral, the historical approach adopted in this chapter contributes to highlight the complex agency of language mediators in the construction of knowledge, particularly in connecting international science with local readerships.