Lilach Gilady
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226433202
- eISBN:
- 9780226433349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226433349.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines the connection between extravagant state-funded scientific megaprojects—known as Big Science—and international prestige by focusing on the Transits of Venus (TOVs). It first ...
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This chapter examines the connection between extravagant state-funded scientific megaprojects—known as Big Science—and international prestige by focusing on the Transits of Venus (TOVs). It first provides an overview of the international reaction to China's 2003 launch of the spacecraft Shenzhou V and whether it raised the prospects for a renewed space race before discussing Big Science projects such as space programs and ambitious biomedical projects like the Human Genome Project as examples of conspicuous consumption. It then considers Big Science in relation to prestige and three primary utility-based alternatives that explain Big Science as strategic investment, as a promoter of knowledge, and as pork-barrel politics, arguing that conspicuous consumption is a necessary complementary component for the analysis of Big Science. It also describes the international race to observe the TOVs of 1761, 1769, 1874, and 1882 as a case study of conspicuous consumption.Less
This chapter examines the connection between extravagant state-funded scientific megaprojects—known as Big Science—and international prestige by focusing on the Transits of Venus (TOVs). It first provides an overview of the international reaction to China's 2003 launch of the spacecraft Shenzhou V and whether it raised the prospects for a renewed space race before discussing Big Science projects such as space programs and ambitious biomedical projects like the Human Genome Project as examples of conspicuous consumption. It then considers Big Science in relation to prestige and three primary utility-based alternatives that explain Big Science as strategic investment, as a promoter of knowledge, and as pork-barrel politics, arguing that conspicuous consumption is a necessary complementary component for the analysis of Big Science. It also describes the international race to observe the TOVs of 1761, 1769, 1874, and 1882 as a case study of conspicuous consumption.
Michael Riordan, Lillian Hoddeson, and Adrienne W. Kolb
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226294797
- eISBN:
- 9780226305837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226305837.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Recognizing that US taxpayers would not cover the entire SSC cost, the Bush Administration began trying to internationalize the laboratory by seeking large foreign contributions. But the only serious ...
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Recognizing that US taxpayers would not cover the entire SSC cost, the Bush Administration began trying to internationalize the laboratory by seeking large foreign contributions. But the only serious prospect was Japan, which was initially hesitant to commit to such a partnership. In 1990, before the extent of the cost overrun was fully recognized, the US House of Representatives capped the federal SSC contribution at $5 billion while requiring at least 20 percent foreign contributions. When estimated total costs grew to $8.25 billion, this stipulation meant that a total of $1.7 billion was needed from other countries. That summer, amendments to terminate the SSC were defeated by comfortable margins in both House and Senate despite worsening public perceptions of the project. But thus chastened, high Administration officials redoubled their efforts that fall to secure a billion-dollar Japanese commitment but obtained only a promise to consider partnering in the SSC laboratory.Less
Recognizing that US taxpayers would not cover the entire SSC cost, the Bush Administration began trying to internationalize the laboratory by seeking large foreign contributions. But the only serious prospect was Japan, which was initially hesitant to commit to such a partnership. In 1990, before the extent of the cost overrun was fully recognized, the US House of Representatives capped the federal SSC contribution at $5 billion while requiring at least 20 percent foreign contributions. When estimated total costs grew to $8.25 billion, this stipulation meant that a total of $1.7 billion was needed from other countries. That summer, amendments to terminate the SSC were defeated by comfortable margins in both House and Senate despite worsening public perceptions of the project. But thus chastened, high Administration officials redoubled their efforts that fall to secure a billion-dollar Japanese commitment but obtained only a promise to consider partnering in the SSC laboratory.
Max Boisot, Markus Nordberg, Saïd Yami, and Bertrand Nicquevert (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199567928
- eISBN:
- 9780191728945
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567928.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management, Organization Studies
After twenty-five years of preparation, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva, is finally running its intensive scientific experiments into high-energy particle physics. These experiments, which ...
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After twenty-five years of preparation, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva, is finally running its intensive scientific experiments into high-energy particle physics. These experiments, which have so captured the public's imagination, take the world of physics to a new energy level — the terascale — at which elementary particles are accelerated to one millionth of a percent of the speed of light and made to smash into each other with a combined energy of around fourteen trillion electron-volts. What new world opens up at the terascale? No one really knows, but the confident expectation is that radically new phenomena will come into view. The kind of Big Science being pursued at CERN, however, is becoming ever more uncertain and costly. Do the anticipated benefits justify the efforts and the costs? This book aims to give a broad organizational and strategic understanding of the nature of Big Science by analyzing one of the major experiments that uses the Large Hadron Collider, the ATLAS Collaboration. It examines such issues as: the flow of ‘interlaced’ knowledge between specialist teams; the intra- and inter-organizational dynamics of Big Science; the new knowledge capital being created for the workings of the experiment by individual researchers, suppliers, and e-science and ICTs; the leadership implications of a collaboration of nearly three thousand members; and the benefits for the wider societal setting. This book aims to examine how, in the face of high levels of uncertainty and risk, ambitious scientific aims can be achieved by complex organizational networks characterized by cultural diversity, informality, and trust — and where Big Science can head next.Less
After twenty-five years of preparation, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva, is finally running its intensive scientific experiments into high-energy particle physics. These experiments, which have so captured the public's imagination, take the world of physics to a new energy level — the terascale — at which elementary particles are accelerated to one millionth of a percent of the speed of light and made to smash into each other with a combined energy of around fourteen trillion electron-volts. What new world opens up at the terascale? No one really knows, but the confident expectation is that radically new phenomena will come into view. The kind of Big Science being pursued at CERN, however, is becoming ever more uncertain and costly. Do the anticipated benefits justify the efforts and the costs? This book aims to give a broad organizational and strategic understanding of the nature of Big Science by analyzing one of the major experiments that uses the Large Hadron Collider, the ATLAS Collaboration. It examines such issues as: the flow of ‘interlaced’ knowledge between specialist teams; the intra- and inter-organizational dynamics of Big Science; the new knowledge capital being created for the workings of the experiment by individual researchers, suppliers, and e-science and ICTs; the leadership implications of a collaboration of nearly three thousand members; and the benefits for the wider societal setting. This book aims to examine how, in the face of high levels of uncertainty and risk, ambitious scientific aims can be achieved by complex organizational networks characterized by cultural diversity, informality, and trust — and where Big Science can head next.
Timo J. Santalainen, Markus Nordberg, Ram B. Baliga, and Max Boisot
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199567928
- eISBN:
- 9780191728945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567928.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management, Organization Studies
This chapter sets the scene for the chapters that follow. It describes a series of workshops in which the ATLAS Collaboration was explored with the collaboration's project leaders from a managerial ...
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This chapter sets the scene for the chapters that follow. It describes a series of workshops in which the ATLAS Collaboration was explored with the collaboration's project leaders from a managerial perspective. The idea of these workshops, sponsored by the ATLAS management, was to impart a more strategic orientation to the collaboration's efforts. It did not quite work out that way, and the reasons for this have much to teach about the nature of Big Science. It turns out that the managers of knowledge-intensive organizations may have more to learn from how Big Science projects such as ATLAS are developed and run than the other way round.Less
This chapter sets the scene for the chapters that follow. It describes a series of workshops in which the ATLAS Collaboration was explored with the collaboration's project leaders from a managerial perspective. The idea of these workshops, sponsored by the ATLAS management, was to impart a more strategic orientation to the collaboration's efforts. It did not quite work out that way, and the reasons for this have much to teach about the nature of Big Science. It turns out that the managers of knowledge-intensive organizations may have more to learn from how Big Science projects such as ATLAS are developed and run than the other way round.
Shantha Liyanage and Max Boisot
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199567928
- eISBN:
- 9780191728945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567928.003.0012
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management, Organization Studies
This chapter examines the ATLAS Collaboration from a leadership perspective. It first looks at how leadership in general may be conceptualized and then at how the concepts play out in the realm of ...
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This chapter examines the ATLAS Collaboration from a leadership perspective. It first looks at how leadership in general may be conceptualized and then at how the concepts play out in the realm of science. Like other Big Science projects, the ATLAS Collaboration operates at the forefront of knowledge creation. The kind of leadership it requires is not vested in a single individual but is distributed throughout the collaboration. ATLAS's project management team has little formal control over the 3,000-plus members of the collaboration. These remain attached to national institutions and are accountable only to them. How, then, does a scientific collaboration as large as ATLAS generate and sustain creative and constructive interactions among several thousand scientists and engineers of diverse cultures, traditions, and habits? And, given the complexity of the tasks involved, how does it align such interactions with its experimental goals while keeping the project's stakeholders happy?Less
This chapter examines the ATLAS Collaboration from a leadership perspective. It first looks at how leadership in general may be conceptualized and then at how the concepts play out in the realm of science. Like other Big Science projects, the ATLAS Collaboration operates at the forefront of knowledge creation. The kind of leadership it requires is not vested in a single individual but is distributed throughout the collaboration. ATLAS's project management team has little formal control over the 3,000-plus members of the collaboration. These remain attached to national institutions and are accountable only to them. How, then, does a scientific collaboration as large as ATLAS generate and sustain creative and constructive interactions among several thousand scientists and engineers of diverse cultures, traditions, and habits? And, given the complexity of the tasks involved, how does it align such interactions with its experimental goals while keeping the project's stakeholders happy?
Saïd Yami, Markus Nordberg, Bertrand Nicquevert, and Max Boisot
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199567928
- eISBN:
- 9780191728945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567928.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management, Organization Studies
This chapter focuses on the inter- and intraorganizational dynamics that characterizes Big Science. It shows, first, that the high stakes associated with a unique, next-generation particle physics ...
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This chapter focuses on the inter- and intraorganizational dynamics that characterizes Big Science. It shows, first, that the high stakes associated with a unique, next-generation particle physics experiment will lead actors to collaborate and share resources; secondly, that, given the uncertainties, a loosely coupled institutional framework is essential for the pursuit of such a collaborative approach. The way that the ATLAS Collaboration deals with the collective action problem holds valuable lessons for all organizations — commercial, government, voluntary, and so on — involved in the production of knowledge in the 21st century. The chapter begins by exploring the nature of collective strategies and the varying degrees of collaboration they engender from a theoretical perspective. It then briefly describes the functioning of the ATLAS Collaboration as a collective practice. In a discussion section, it brings theory and description together in order to make sense of such a practice. It concludes with a brief look at the implications of the analysis of Big Science collaborations for the scientific enterprise as a whole and for science-based commercial collaborations in particular.Less
This chapter focuses on the inter- and intraorganizational dynamics that characterizes Big Science. It shows, first, that the high stakes associated with a unique, next-generation particle physics experiment will lead actors to collaborate and share resources; secondly, that, given the uncertainties, a loosely coupled institutional framework is essential for the pursuit of such a collaborative approach. The way that the ATLAS Collaboration deals with the collective action problem holds valuable lessons for all organizations — commercial, government, voluntary, and so on — involved in the production of knowledge in the 21st century. The chapter begins by exploring the nature of collective strategies and the varying degrees of collaboration they engender from a theoretical perspective. It then briefly describes the functioning of the ATLAS Collaboration as a collective practice. In a discussion section, it brings theory and description together in order to make sense of such a practice. It concludes with a brief look at the implications of the analysis of Big Science collaborations for the scientific enterprise as a whole and for science-based commercial collaborations in particular.
Lorraine Daston
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226432229
- eISBN:
- 9780226432533
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226432533.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Big Science (and Big Humanities) were invented in the nineteenth century. Two huge, expensive, and long-lived projects, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) of the classical philologists and the ...
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Big Science (and Big Humanities) were invented in the nineteenth century. Two huge, expensive, and long-lived projects, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) of the classical philologists and the Carte du Ciel of the astronomers, created disciplinary archives intended to serve future researchers for centuries and even millennia to come. The CIL would transcribe and publish all known Latin inscriptions from the length and breadth of the ancient Roman empire before they succumbed to the depredations of time. The Carte du Ciel would use the new methods of astrophotography to create a photograph of the sky as seen from the earth circa 1900, which future astronomers could use to detect phenomena that unfolded on a superhuman timescale. Both projects involved international cooperation, industrial-style organization, state funding, and disciplinary stamina on an unprecedented scale. Both raise questions about the investment of resources: why create the archives for future research instead of channeling energies and funds into present inquiry, especially when the topics of future research are uncertain? The answer lies in the melancholy realization of second-wave positivism that the price of progress was ephemeral scientific knowledge. Only the archives seemed to promise permanence.Less
Big Science (and Big Humanities) were invented in the nineteenth century. Two huge, expensive, and long-lived projects, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) of the classical philologists and the Carte du Ciel of the astronomers, created disciplinary archives intended to serve future researchers for centuries and even millennia to come. The CIL would transcribe and publish all known Latin inscriptions from the length and breadth of the ancient Roman empire before they succumbed to the depredations of time. The Carte du Ciel would use the new methods of astrophotography to create a photograph of the sky as seen from the earth circa 1900, which future astronomers could use to detect phenomena that unfolded on a superhuman timescale. Both projects involved international cooperation, industrial-style organization, state funding, and disciplinary stamina on an unprecedented scale. Both raise questions about the investment of resources: why create the archives for future research instead of channeling energies and funds into present inquiry, especially when the topics of future research are uncertain? The answer lies in the melancholy realization of second-wave positivism that the price of progress was ephemeral scientific knowledge. Only the archives seemed to promise permanence.
Philipp Tuertscher, Raghu Garud, Markus Nordberg, and Max Boisot
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199567928
- eISBN:
- 9780191728945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567928.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management, Organization Studies
The collective effort required to develop, build, and run the ATLAS detector has been structured as a ‘collaboration’, a distributed problem-solving network characteristic of Big Science, itself a ...
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The collective effort required to develop, build, and run the ATLAS detector has been structured as a ‘collaboration’, a distributed problem-solving network characteristic of Big Science, itself a relatively recent kind of enterprise involving big budgets, big staffs, big machines, and numerous laboratories. While ATLAS is an archetypical example of this type of enterprise in high-energy physics (HEP), similar endeavours can be found in basic physics, astronomy, and the life sciences. This chapter presents research that investigates the development and construction of the complex technological system that makes up the ATLAS detector.Less
The collective effort required to develop, build, and run the ATLAS detector has been structured as a ‘collaboration’, a distributed problem-solving network characteristic of Big Science, itself a relatively recent kind of enterprise involving big budgets, big staffs, big machines, and numerous laboratories. While ATLAS is an archetypical example of this type of enterprise in high-energy physics (HEP), similar endeavours can be found in basic physics, astronomy, and the life sciences. This chapter presents research that investigates the development and construction of the complex technological system that makes up the ATLAS detector.
Marzio Nessi
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199669165
- eISBN:
- 9780191749346
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669165.003.0017
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Knowledge Management
In a very personal reflective essay, Marzio Nessi, the technical coordinator of the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN, recounts Max Boisot’s work and interaction with the particle physics community at ...
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In a very personal reflective essay, Marzio Nessi, the technical coordinator of the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN, recounts Max Boisot’s work and interaction with the particle physics community at ATLAS and CERN, whose research on the Higgs particle, the famous “God particle”, has attracted a lot of media attention. Boisot was interested in the creation of knowledge at ATLAS and studied its unique organization, characterized by collaborative behavior, a bottom-up approach, and a consensus-driven management style, which has enabled this Big Science institution to create a new way of dealing with extreme complexity. Boisot was fascinated by how a scientific collaboration as large as ATLAS generates and sustains creative and constructive interactions among thousands of researchers from diverse cultures, traditions and habits. He believed that the self-organizational capability of the collaboration was the key to success. Boisot’s research also laid the ground for studying how scientific and technical progress is made and how the value of basic research can be captured for society.Less
In a very personal reflective essay, Marzio Nessi, the technical coordinator of the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN, recounts Max Boisot’s work and interaction with the particle physics community at ATLAS and CERN, whose research on the Higgs particle, the famous “God particle”, has attracted a lot of media attention. Boisot was interested in the creation of knowledge at ATLAS and studied its unique organization, characterized by collaborative behavior, a bottom-up approach, and a consensus-driven management style, which has enabled this Big Science institution to create a new way of dealing with extreme complexity. Boisot was fascinated by how a scientific collaboration as large as ATLAS generates and sustains creative and constructive interactions among thousands of researchers from diverse cultures, traditions and habits. He believed that the self-organizational capability of the collaboration was the key to success. Boisot’s research also laid the ground for studying how scientific and technical progress is made and how the value of basic research can be captured for society.
Lynne R. Parenti and Malte C. Ebach
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520259454
- eISBN:
- 9780520944398
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520259454.003.0010
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This concluding chapter presents the vision for a global biogeography, arguing that biogeography is a Big Science which deserves the attention and resources given to other large-scale, global ...
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This concluding chapter presents the vision for a global biogeography, arguing that biogeography is a Big Science which deserves the attention and resources given to other large-scale, global scientific efforts. Global projects can accelerate species discovery, taxon and area descriptions, and cybertaxonomy, and can set a standard for collaborative scientific research in the twenty-first century.Less
This concluding chapter presents the vision for a global biogeography, arguing that biogeography is a Big Science which deserves the attention and resources given to other large-scale, global scientific efforts. Global projects can accelerate species discovery, taxon and area descriptions, and cybertaxonomy, and can set a standard for collaborative scientific research in the twenty-first century.
John Child and Martin Ihrig (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199669165
- eISBN:
- 9780191749346
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669165.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Knowledge Management
This book is about knowledge, which is the wellspring of progress and the major competitive factor in business today. It brings together and commemorates the contributions that Max Boisot made to our ...
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This book is about knowledge, which is the wellspring of progress and the major competitive factor in business today. It brings together and commemorates the contributions that Max Boisot made to our understanding of the role of knowledge resources in management and organization. The book is structured into five core sections. These are Analyses of the Chinese System, Organizational Complexity, the Strategic Management of Knowledge, Knowledge in Big Science, andInnovations in Education. Each section features one key paper that Boisot had written or co-authored, accompanied by extended commentaries that put his contribution into a wider perspective. A further part of the book includes six reflective essays by Boisot’s collaborators, all of whom are world-renowned authorities. Max Boisot was a pioneering thinker and management educator. Knowledge and the Study of Organization and Management brings together in one place –for the first time ever– the breadth and depth of his work as well as pointing to directions of further development. Its unifying foundation is Boisot’s treatment of knowledge and how to make its conceptual analysis relevant to managerial and educational practice in ways that he demonstrated so powerfully.This book is of considerable value to organization and management scholars, graduate students, management consultants, and intellectually curious managers of global enterprises. Max Boisot’s concepts have high practical relevance as well as a sound theoretical basis, and many have found their way into executive education courses. This book will therefore be a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners.Less
This book is about knowledge, which is the wellspring of progress and the major competitive factor in business today. It brings together and commemorates the contributions that Max Boisot made to our understanding of the role of knowledge resources in management and organization. The book is structured into five core sections. These are Analyses of the Chinese System, Organizational Complexity, the Strategic Management of Knowledge, Knowledge in Big Science, andInnovations in Education. Each section features one key paper that Boisot had written or co-authored, accompanied by extended commentaries that put his contribution into a wider perspective. A further part of the book includes six reflective essays by Boisot’s collaborators, all of whom are world-renowned authorities. Max Boisot was a pioneering thinker and management educator. Knowledge and the Study of Organization and Management brings together in one place –for the first time ever– the breadth and depth of his work as well as pointing to directions of further development. Its unifying foundation is Boisot’s treatment of knowledge and how to make its conceptual analysis relevant to managerial and educational practice in ways that he demonstrated so powerfully.This book is of considerable value to organization and management scholars, graduate students, management consultants, and intellectually curious managers of global enterprises. Max Boisot’s concepts have high practical relevance as well as a sound theoretical basis, and many have found their way into executive education courses. This book will therefore be a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners.
Agustí Canals
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199669165
- eISBN:
- 9780191749346
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669165.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Knowledge Management
In this chapter we review some of the ideas Max Boisot developed about the organizational and strategic aspects of big science projects and their application to the understanding of big science ...
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In this chapter we review some of the ideas Max Boisot developed about the organizational and strategic aspects of big science projects and their application to the understanding of big science projects like ATLAS. First, we will look at some fundamental questions about the nature of knowledge and its differentiation from the concepts of data and information. Second, we have a look at Boisot's published research on big science, represented mainly by the article "Generating knowledge in a connected world: The case of the ATLAS experiment at CERN", reproduced in this book, and the book "Collisions and Collaboration". Issues in this part range from learning, culture or leadership to new management research models or e-science. Finally, we overview some of the ideas on which Boisot was working in the last months of his research about big science, and that may constitute avenues for future research.Less
In this chapter we review some of the ideas Max Boisot developed about the organizational and strategic aspects of big science projects and their application to the understanding of big science projects like ATLAS. First, we will look at some fundamental questions about the nature of knowledge and its differentiation from the concepts of data and information. Second, we have a look at Boisot's published research on big science, represented mainly by the article "Generating knowledge in a connected world: The case of the ATLAS experiment at CERN", reproduced in this book, and the book "Collisions and Collaboration". Issues in this part range from learning, culture or leadership to new management research models or e-science. Finally, we overview some of the ideas on which Boisot was working in the last months of his research about big science, and that may constitute avenues for future research.
Lilach Gilady
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226433202
- eISBN:
- 9780226433349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226433349.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book examines the role of prestige in international relations through an analysis of conspicuous consumption. Drawing on the economic literature on Veblen effects, it argues that states pursue ...
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This book examines the role of prestige in international relations through an analysis of conspicuous consumption. Drawing on the economic literature on Veblen effects, it argues that states pursue prestige by engaging in conspicuous consumption and that this quest for prestige is similar to the quest for power as a motivating force in international affairs. According to Veblenian theory, actors use consumption as a signal to indicate their social station and are willing to pay more in the hope that the additional expense may buy them prestige. The book also explores the logic of status symbols in international relations and demonstrates the dynamics of conspicuous consumption using three international “luxury commodities”: aircraft carriers, prosocial policies, and Big Science projects. This chapter elaborates each of these themes.Less
This book examines the role of prestige in international relations through an analysis of conspicuous consumption. Drawing on the economic literature on Veblen effects, it argues that states pursue prestige by engaging in conspicuous consumption and that this quest for prestige is similar to the quest for power as a motivating force in international affairs. According to Veblenian theory, actors use consumption as a signal to indicate their social station and are willing to pay more in the hope that the additional expense may buy them prestige. The book also explores the logic of status symbols in international relations and demonstrates the dynamics of conspicuous consumption using three international “luxury commodities”: aircraft carriers, prosocial policies, and Big Science projects. This chapter elaborates each of these themes.
Martin Ihrig and John Child
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199669165
- eISBN:
- 9780191749346
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669165.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Knowledge Management
The introductory chapter outlines Max Boisot’s Information-Space (I-Space), a conceptual framework that facilitates the study of knowledge flows in diverse populations of ‘agents’. As one of Boisot’s ...
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The introductory chapter outlines Max Boisot’s Information-Space (I-Space), a conceptual framework that facilitates the study of knowledge flows in diverse populations of ‘agents’. As one of Boisot’s most fundamental innovations, it enabled him and other researchers to study and advance understanding of the emerging knowledge-based society and the implications of the information revolution. The chapter also reviews Max Boisot’s life and achievements and reflects on how his career path and the international collaborations he formed helped to shape the development of his work. Boisot’s mode of knowledge creation that made him an extraordinary organization scholar and management visionary is described. Finally, the chapter reviews the five core sections into which the book is structured and which cover the main areas in which Boisot forged new understanding, among them Analyses of the Chinese System, Organizational Complexity, The Strategic Management of Knowledge, Knowledge in Big Science, Innovations in Education.Less
The introductory chapter outlines Max Boisot’s Information-Space (I-Space), a conceptual framework that facilitates the study of knowledge flows in diverse populations of ‘agents’. As one of Boisot’s most fundamental innovations, it enabled him and other researchers to study and advance understanding of the emerging knowledge-based society and the implications of the information revolution. The chapter also reviews Max Boisot’s life and achievements and reflects on how his career path and the international collaborations he formed helped to shape the development of his work. Boisot’s mode of knowledge creation that made him an extraordinary organization scholar and management visionary is described. Finally, the chapter reviews the five core sections into which the book is structured and which cover the main areas in which Boisot forged new understanding, among them Analyses of the Chinese System, Organizational Complexity, The Strategic Management of Knowledge, Knowledge in Big Science, Innovations in Education.
P. J. E. Peebles
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780691196022
- eISBN:
- 9780691201665
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691196022.003.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
This introductory chapter provides an overview of cosmology. The starting assumption for cosmology, as in all branches of natural science, is that nature operates by kinds of logic and rules that one ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of cosmology. The starting assumption for cosmology, as in all branches of natural science, is that nature operates by kinds of logic and rules that one can discover by careful examination of what is observed, informed by past experience of what has worked. But despite the many demonstrations of its power, physics, along with all the rest of natural science, is incomplete. Research in cosmology in the twentieth century usually was done in small groups, often an individual working alone or maybe with a colleague or a student or two. In the twenty-first century, ongoing research in cosmology grew richer and called for larger groups to develop special-purpose equipment for data acquisition, which in turn called for groups of comparable size to reduce the data and interpret it. Big Science has become important to this subject: One has to get used to gathering data in vast amounts, analyzing these data, and employing massive numerical simulations that help bridge the gap between theory and observation. This book provides an account of how cosmology grew, presenting histories of six lines of research that were developing more or less separately.Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of cosmology. The starting assumption for cosmology, as in all branches of natural science, is that nature operates by kinds of logic and rules that one can discover by careful examination of what is observed, informed by past experience of what has worked. But despite the many demonstrations of its power, physics, along with all the rest of natural science, is incomplete. Research in cosmology in the twentieth century usually was done in small groups, often an individual working alone or maybe with a colleague or a student or two. In the twenty-first century, ongoing research in cosmology grew richer and called for larger groups to develop special-purpose equipment for data acquisition, which in turn called for groups of comparable size to reduce the data and interpret it. Big Science has become important to this subject: One has to get used to gathering data in vast amounts, analyzing these data, and employing massive numerical simulations that help bridge the gap between theory and observation. This book provides an account of how cosmology grew, presenting histories of six lines of research that were developing more or less separately.