Elena Aronova
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262027953
- eISBN:
- 9780262326100
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262027953.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
‘Big Science’ as a notion was coined in 1960 by physicist Alvin Weinberg and physicist-turned-historian Derek de Solla Price, and immediately became the center of heated discussions in the U.S. ...
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‘Big Science’ as a notion was coined in 1960 by physicist Alvin Weinberg and physicist-turned-historian Derek de Solla Price, and immediately became the center of heated discussions in the U.S. Simultaneously, in the post-Stalinist Soviet Union, a counterpart of the American discussion of Big Science was epitomized in the concept of Scientific-Technological Revolution, which became the center of a theoretically significant discussions focused on the conditions and consequences of scientific-technical, social and economic change in different political systems. Throughout the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union advocated their ability to offer and display different visions of a modern industrial society, and Big Science played major role in these powerful Cold War imageries. This chapter examines different ways in which Big Science was deployed as a resource to debate, negotiate, and rationalize the concerns and anxieties of the Cold War, on the opposite sides of the political divide. In both political settings, scientists, as well as social theorists, promoted the view that Big Science needs what might be called “Big Science Studies” – an independent expertise, which would provide a systematic assessment and characterization of Big Science, and advise governments accordingly.Less
‘Big Science’ as a notion was coined in 1960 by physicist Alvin Weinberg and physicist-turned-historian Derek de Solla Price, and immediately became the center of heated discussions in the U.S. Simultaneously, in the post-Stalinist Soviet Union, a counterpart of the American discussion of Big Science was epitomized in the concept of Scientific-Technological Revolution, which became the center of a theoretically significant discussions focused on the conditions and consequences of scientific-technical, social and economic change in different political systems. Throughout the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union advocated their ability to offer and display different visions of a modern industrial society, and Big Science played major role in these powerful Cold War imageries. This chapter examines different ways in which Big Science was deployed as a resource to debate, negotiate, and rationalize the concerns and anxieties of the Cold War, on the opposite sides of the political divide. In both political settings, scientists, as well as social theorists, promoted the view that Big Science needs what might be called “Big Science Studies” – an independent expertise, which would provide a systematic assessment and characterization of Big Science, and advise governments accordingly.
Simone Tosoni and Trevor Pinch
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035279
- eISBN:
- 9780262336550
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035279.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
Based on several rounds of academic interview and conversations with Trevor Pinch, the book introduces the reader to the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), and in particular to the social ...
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Based on several rounds of academic interview and conversations with Trevor Pinch, the book introduces the reader to the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), and in particular to the social constructionist approach to science, technology and sound. Through the lenses of Pinch’s lifetime work, STS students, and scholars in fields dealing with technological mediation, are provided with an in-depth overview, and with suggestions for further reading, on the most relevant past and ongoing debates in the field. The book starts presenting the approach launched by the Bath School in the early sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), and follows the development of the field up to the so called “Science wars” of the ‘90s, and to the popularization of the main acquisitions of the field by Trevor Pinch and Harry Collins’ Golem trilogy. Then, it deals with the sociology of technology, and presents the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach, launched by Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker in 1984 and developed in more than 30 years of research, comparing it with alternative approaches like Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network theory. Five issues are addressed in depth: relevant social groups in the social construction of technology; the intertwining of social representations and practices; the importance of tacit knowledge in SCOT’s approach to the nonrepresentational; the controversy over nonhuman agency; and the political implications of SCOT. Finally, it presents the main current debates in STS, in particular in the study of materiality and ontology, and presents Pinch’s more recent work in sound studies.Less
Based on several rounds of academic interview and conversations with Trevor Pinch, the book introduces the reader to the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), and in particular to the social constructionist approach to science, technology and sound. Through the lenses of Pinch’s lifetime work, STS students, and scholars in fields dealing with technological mediation, are provided with an in-depth overview, and with suggestions for further reading, on the most relevant past and ongoing debates in the field. The book starts presenting the approach launched by the Bath School in the early sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), and follows the development of the field up to the so called “Science wars” of the ‘90s, and to the popularization of the main acquisitions of the field by Trevor Pinch and Harry Collins’ Golem trilogy. Then, it deals with the sociology of technology, and presents the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach, launched by Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker in 1984 and developed in more than 30 years of research, comparing it with alternative approaches like Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network theory. Five issues are addressed in depth: relevant social groups in the social construction of technology; the intertwining of social representations and practices; the importance of tacit knowledge in SCOT’s approach to the nonrepresentational; the controversy over nonhuman agency; and the political implications of SCOT. Finally, it presents the main current debates in STS, in particular in the study of materiality and ontology, and presents Pinch’s more recent work in sound studies.
Henning Schmidgen
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823263691
- eISBN:
- 9780823266555
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823263691.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour (*1947) is a major figure of contemporary thought. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Latourian oeuvre, from his early ...
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The French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour (*1947) is a major figure of contemporary thought. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Latourian oeuvre, from his early anthropological studies in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) to his influential books like Laboratory Life and Science in Action and his most recent reflections on an empirical metaphysics of “modes of existence.” The book argues that the basic problem to which Latour’s work responds is that of social tradition, i.e. the complex relationship of culture, knowledge, and time. It shows that Latour’s understanding of this problem is deeply informed by his early involvement with Biblical exegesis, in particular the work of the German theologian Rudolf Bultmann. Against this background, the book questions the innovative potential of actor-network theory (ANT) and the fruitfulness of Latour’s philosophical attempts to understand the plurality of “modes of existence.”Less
The French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour (*1947) is a major figure of contemporary thought. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Latourian oeuvre, from his early anthropological studies in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) to his influential books like Laboratory Life and Science in Action and his most recent reflections on an empirical metaphysics of “modes of existence.” The book argues that the basic problem to which Latour’s work responds is that of social tradition, i.e. the complex relationship of culture, knowledge, and time. It shows that Latour’s understanding of this problem is deeply informed by his early involvement with Biblical exegesis, in particular the work of the German theologian Rudolf Bultmann. Against this background, the book questions the innovative potential of actor-network theory (ANT) and the fruitfulness of Latour’s philosophical attempts to understand the plurality of “modes of existence.”
Diego de la Hoz del Hoyo
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719091858
- eISBN:
- 9781781708415
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719091858.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
This chapter argues that one way to re-imagine Europe is to re-imagine science and technology policy instrumentation as a moment when actors come together and enact ‘their’ Europe. To show this, the ...
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This chapter argues that one way to re-imagine Europe is to re-imagine science and technology policy instrumentation as a moment when actors come together and enact ‘their’ Europe. To show this, the chapter conceptualises the regulatory tool of Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) as a space for political action. Drawing on empirical material gathered through interviews and observation of meetings, Diego de la Hoz del Hoya presents two modelling exercises whereby fishers, marine biologists and Commission officials mobilised to agree the setting of fishing thresholds. In showing the detail of actor arguments and practices, he argues that far from being sites of mere technical regulation, IIAs provide critical new spaces for European political work. IIAs emerge as ‘political’ in two ways: first, in the course of IIA, important value judgments are made, not only about the content of policy (here, fisheries), but also about the very nature of Europe itself; second, IIAs confront actors with issues of distribution of power and authority. Overall, the chapter contributes to the cross-fertilisation of Science and Technology Studies with a political sociology of the EU.Less
This chapter argues that one way to re-imagine Europe is to re-imagine science and technology policy instrumentation as a moment when actors come together and enact ‘their’ Europe. To show this, the chapter conceptualises the regulatory tool of Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) as a space for political action. Drawing on empirical material gathered through interviews and observation of meetings, Diego de la Hoz del Hoya presents two modelling exercises whereby fishers, marine biologists and Commission officials mobilised to agree the setting of fishing thresholds. In showing the detail of actor arguments and practices, he argues that far from being sites of mere technical regulation, IIAs provide critical new spaces for European political work. IIAs emerge as ‘political’ in two ways: first, in the course of IIA, important value judgments are made, not only about the content of policy (here, fisheries), but also about the very nature of Europe itself; second, IIAs confront actors with issues of distribution of power and authority. Overall, the chapter contributes to the cross-fertilisation of Science and Technology Studies with a political sociology of the EU.
Michael Fisch
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226558417
- eISBN:
- 9780226558691
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226558691.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
Anthropology of the Machine: Tokyo’s Commuter Train Network is an exploration of collective life formed at the interstices of human and machine operation within one of the most complex and ...
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Anthropology of the Machine: Tokyo’s Commuter Train Network is an exploration of collective life formed at the interstices of human and machine operation within one of the most complex and large-scale technical infrastructures in the world. Adopting a simultaneous critical and optimistic approach, it is an attempt to think with the specific quality of relations formed within Tokyo’s commuter rail infrastructure in order to develop a mode of analysis adequate to the technological complexity of contemporary society and to explore emergent ontologies of human and machine co-constitution. In so doing, it draws attention not only to Tokyo’s commuter train network’s infamously packed trains and precision schedule but more importantly its operation at the extreme edge of sustainability beyond its structural capacity. Such a system, it posits, embodies the contradictory and unsustainable logic defining our contemporary relationship with technology. At the same time, through a theoretically novel approach that emphasizes the generative gaps within the network’s immersive mediation, Anthropology of the Machine advances Tokyo’s commuter train network as a unique setting through which to question received discourses on technology and to re-conceptualize the human relationship with machines toward a more sustainable future.Less
Anthropology of the Machine: Tokyo’s Commuter Train Network is an exploration of collective life formed at the interstices of human and machine operation within one of the most complex and large-scale technical infrastructures in the world. Adopting a simultaneous critical and optimistic approach, it is an attempt to think with the specific quality of relations formed within Tokyo’s commuter rail infrastructure in order to develop a mode of analysis adequate to the technological complexity of contemporary society and to explore emergent ontologies of human and machine co-constitution. In so doing, it draws attention not only to Tokyo’s commuter train network’s infamously packed trains and precision schedule but more importantly its operation at the extreme edge of sustainability beyond its structural capacity. Such a system, it posits, embodies the contradictory and unsustainable logic defining our contemporary relationship with technology. At the same time, through a theoretically novel approach that emphasizes the generative gaps within the network’s immersive mediation, Anthropology of the Machine advances Tokyo’s commuter train network as a unique setting through which to question received discourses on technology and to re-conceptualize the human relationship with machines toward a more sustainable future.
Charlotte P. Lee and Kjeld Schmidt
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198733249
- eISBN:
- 9780191797736
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198733249.003.0006
- Subject:
- Mathematics, Computational Mathematics / Optimization
The study of computing infrastructures has grown significantly due to the rapid proliferation and ubiquity of large-scale IT-based installations. At the same time, recognition has also grown of the ...
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The study of computing infrastructures has grown significantly due to the rapid proliferation and ubiquity of large-scale IT-based installations. At the same time, recognition has also grown of the usefulness of such studies as a means for understanding computing infrastructures as material complements of practical action. Subsequently the concept of “infrastructure” (or “information infrastructures,” “cyberinfrastructures,” and “infrastructuring”) has gained increasing importance in the area of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) as well as in neighboring areas such as Information Systems research (IS) and Science and Technology Studies (STS). However, as such studies have unfolded, the very concept of “infrastructure” is being applied in different discourses, for different purposes, in myriad different senses. Consequently, the concept of “infrastructure” has become increasingly muddled and needs clarification. The chapter presents a critical investigation of the vicissitudes of the concept of “infrastructure” over the last 35 years.Less
The study of computing infrastructures has grown significantly due to the rapid proliferation and ubiquity of large-scale IT-based installations. At the same time, recognition has also grown of the usefulness of such studies as a means for understanding computing infrastructures as material complements of practical action. Subsequently the concept of “infrastructure” (or “information infrastructures,” “cyberinfrastructures,” and “infrastructuring”) has gained increasing importance in the area of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) as well as in neighboring areas such as Information Systems research (IS) and Science and Technology Studies (STS). However, as such studies have unfolded, the very concept of “infrastructure” is being applied in different discourses, for different purposes, in myriad different senses. Consequently, the concept of “infrastructure” has become increasingly muddled and needs clarification. The chapter presents a critical investigation of the vicissitudes of the concept of “infrastructure” over the last 35 years.
Laura Watts
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780262027168
- eISBN:
- 9780262322492
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262027168.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
The future has come early for Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of Scotland. Here, at what is sometimes considered the periphery, is the site of the European Marine Energy Centre and an ...
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The future has come early for Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of Scotland. Here, at what is sometimes considered the periphery, is the site of the European Marine Energy Centre and an energy-aware and self-determined way of living that is only imagined as a future elsewhere. This chapter forms a prose-poem, written to evoke the island landscape of light and liminality, and to give voice to the people and places working on the edge–both at the geographic edge and on the leading edge–of energy futures. The poem and subsequent discussion explores the qualities of design and development in Orkney that make such futures: Self-Sufficiency, Modest Innovation, Mutable Futures, and Early Adapters. Woven through the poem is a Science and Technology Studies (STS) approach to the future as situated in social and technical practice, as located and partial. For it seems that islands that were once seen as far from ICT industry innovation, may now be better understood as test sites for collaborative experimentation and different conceptions of design and innovation.Less
The future has come early for Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of Scotland. Here, at what is sometimes considered the periphery, is the site of the European Marine Energy Centre and an energy-aware and self-determined way of living that is only imagined as a future elsewhere. This chapter forms a prose-poem, written to evoke the island landscape of light and liminality, and to give voice to the people and places working on the edge–both at the geographic edge and on the leading edge–of energy futures. The poem and subsequent discussion explores the qualities of design and development in Orkney that make such futures: Self-Sufficiency, Modest Innovation, Mutable Futures, and Early Adapters. Woven through the poem is a Science and Technology Studies (STS) approach to the future as situated in social and technical practice, as located and partial. For it seems that islands that were once seen as far from ICT industry innovation, may now be better understood as test sites for collaborative experimentation and different conceptions of design and innovation.
Elisa Pieri
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781526100733
- eISBN:
- 9781526132376
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526100733.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter focuses on Manchester city centre to argue that exploring the futures that different stakeholders envisage for the city centre reveals tensions that are otherwise glossed over. ...
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This chapter focuses on Manchester city centre to argue that exploring the futures that different stakeholders envisage for the city centre reveals tensions that are otherwise glossed over. Critically engaging with urban futures as they are mobilised by institutional stakeholders, and eliciting those that other actors envisage, highlights whose interests are currently being prioritised and whose are traded off. Engaging in an analysis of these urban futures reveals not only important tensions connected to future developments and imagined uses of the city centre, but also opens up to scrutiny the present experiences and uses of the city centre, and the competing interests that a range of actors currently have.Less
This chapter focuses on Manchester city centre to argue that exploring the futures that different stakeholders envisage for the city centre reveals tensions that are otherwise glossed over. Critically engaging with urban futures as they are mobilised by institutional stakeholders, and eliciting those that other actors envisage, highlights whose interests are currently being prioritised and whose are traded off. Engaging in an analysis of these urban futures reveals not only important tensions connected to future developments and imagined uses of the city centre, but also opens up to scrutiny the present experiences and uses of the city centre, and the competing interests that a range of actors currently have.
Kirsten Leng
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501709302
- eISBN:
- 9781501713248
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501709302.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The Conclusion accounts for the fate of the women whose ideas are examined in this book, and takes stock of the legacies of their sexological work. It further lays out the benefits of pursuing a ...
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The Conclusion accounts for the fate of the women whose ideas are examined in this book, and takes stock of the legacies of their sexological work. It further lays out the benefits of pursuing a larger twentieth century history of women’s sexological work, one that is international in its scope and grapples with the rupture in female sexual knowledge production affected by the Second World War and its geopolitical realignments, the reshuffling of the ideological landscapes after 1945, and the rise of new social movements in the 1960s. Finally, the Conclusion argues that the history of women’s sexological work is especially significant at this particular moment in time, as twenty-first century feminist theorists positively embrace science and nature as intellectual and rhetorical resources once again.Less
The Conclusion accounts for the fate of the women whose ideas are examined in this book, and takes stock of the legacies of their sexological work. It further lays out the benefits of pursuing a larger twentieth century history of women’s sexological work, one that is international in its scope and grapples with the rupture in female sexual knowledge production affected by the Second World War and its geopolitical realignments, the reshuffling of the ideological landscapes after 1945, and the rise of new social movements in the 1960s. Finally, the Conclusion argues that the history of women’s sexological work is especially significant at this particular moment in time, as twenty-first century feminist theorists positively embrace science and nature as intellectual and rhetorical resources once again.
J. Allan Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816689965
- eISBN:
- 9781452949529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816689965.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
The first essay examines narratives of gestation and growth in medieval medical science, natural philosophy, zoology, and cosmology. Mitchell argues that embryology and infancy enable an exigent ...
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The first essay examines narratives of gestation and growth in medieval medical science, natural philosophy, zoology, and cosmology. Mitchell argues that embryology and infancy enable an exigent critique of human self-sufficiency. Likewise, dream visions and love allegories deploy infancy and childishness in ways that question the autonomy and agency of the human.Less
The first essay examines narratives of gestation and growth in medieval medical science, natural philosophy, zoology, and cosmology. Mitchell argues that embryology and infancy enable an exigent critique of human self-sufficiency. Likewise, dream visions and love allegories deploy infancy and childishness in ways that question the autonomy and agency of the human.
J. Allan Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816689965
- eISBN:
- 9781452949529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816689965.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
The second essay takes up both physical and literary examples of childish things. The anarchic forces of miniature matters are palpable even as such small-scale things articulate with human fantasy. ...
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The second essay takes up both physical and literary examples of childish things. The anarchic forces of miniature matters are palpable even as such small-scale things articulate with human fantasy. Mitchell also explores literary miniaturization in Geoffrey Chaucer and Thomas Usk.Less
The second essay takes up both physical and literary examples of childish things. The anarchic forces of miniature matters are palpable even as such small-scale things articulate with human fantasy. Mitchell also explores literary miniaturization in Geoffrey Chaucer and Thomas Usk.
Taichi Isobe, Nozomi Mizushima, and Osamu Sakura
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199682676
- eISBN:
- 9780191763168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199682676.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The importance and effectiveness of public participation and upstream engagement have been emphasized in the field of STS (Science, Technology, and Society) studies. Here, the authors introduce these ...
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The importance and effectiveness of public participation and upstream engagement have been emphasized in the field of STS (Science, Technology, and Society) studies. Here, the authors introduce these as potential tools to clear away unethical “optimism,” which Gareth criticizes in his target article. the authors present three cases (AIDS, muscular dystrophy research, and the shepherds of Cumbria) in which public participation proved to be beneficial. Participation of non-experts within fields in which experts are exclusively involved can potentially break biases and restricted perspectives, and views from non-experts may even lead to newer research directions. Incorporation of patient and subject perspectives into research may reduce unethical, or biased, optimism in clinical research and even basic experiments. the authors surmise that this argument holds true even in the research fields of nerve grafting and nerve regeneration.Less
The importance and effectiveness of public participation and upstream engagement have been emphasized in the field of STS (Science, Technology, and Society) studies. Here, the authors introduce these as potential tools to clear away unethical “optimism,” which Gareth criticizes in his target article. the authors present three cases (AIDS, muscular dystrophy research, and the shepherds of Cumbria) in which public participation proved to be beneficial. Participation of non-experts within fields in which experts are exclusively involved can potentially break biases and restricted perspectives, and views from non-experts may even lead to newer research directions. Incorporation of patient and subject perspectives into research may reduce unethical, or biased, optimism in clinical research and even basic experiments. the authors surmise that this argument holds true even in the research fields of nerve grafting and nerve regeneration.
Shiju Sam Varughese
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199469123
- eISBN:
- 9780199087433
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199469123.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
When the phenomenon of coloured rain struck Kerala in 2001, the ambivalences and contradictions in the explanation provided by the researchers from the Centre for Earth Science Studies raised public ...
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When the phenomenon of coloured rain struck Kerala in 2001, the ambivalences and contradictions in the explanation provided by the researchers from the Centre for Earth Science Studies raised public ire. Following this, the scientific public sphere was transformed into a channel for scientific communication between different groups of researchers who attempted to solve the mystery. In this context a group of researchers proposed that the red colour of the rain was due to biological cells of meteoric origin, against the biologists’ argument that the reason was algal and fungal spores. Skilfully promoting their findings with the help of global media, these researchers surpassed the hierarchies of science. By examining the controversy, the chapter highlights the role of media in helping scientists and the public to engage with a wide range of scientific explanations that were proposed, discussed, and falsified or accepted through a complex deliberative process.Less
When the phenomenon of coloured rain struck Kerala in 2001, the ambivalences and contradictions in the explanation provided by the researchers from the Centre for Earth Science Studies raised public ire. Following this, the scientific public sphere was transformed into a channel for scientific communication between different groups of researchers who attempted to solve the mystery. In this context a group of researchers proposed that the red colour of the rain was due to biological cells of meteoric origin, against the biologists’ argument that the reason was algal and fungal spores. Skilfully promoting their findings with the help of global media, these researchers surpassed the hierarchies of science. By examining the controversy, the chapter highlights the role of media in helping scientists and the public to engage with a wide range of scientific explanations that were proposed, discussed, and falsified or accepted through a complex deliberative process.
Catelijne Coopman, Janet Vertesi, Michaeland Lynch, and Steve Woolgar (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780262525381
- eISBN:
- 9780262319157
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262525381.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited, the long-awaited sequel to the influential volume, Representation in Scientific Practice, unites original editors Michael Lynch and Steve Woolgar with ...
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Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited, the long-awaited sequel to the influential volume, Representation in Scientific Practice, unites original editors Michael Lynch and Steve Woolgar with colleagues Catelijne Coopmans and Janet Vertesi to present a new series of essays that sets the bar for the study of representation in science in the twenty-first century. Chapters span a range of topics, including molecular modeling, nano-imaging, mathematical formalisms, and digital imagery in neuroscience, planetary science, and biology - as well as business data visualization, economics diagrams and technology-mediated surgery. They draw on a widened range of disciplinary perspectives (on information, communication, and culture) and themes (embodiment, materiality, digitality) to elaborate original implications for the study of imaging and scientific visualization, broadly conceived. The book features work by an emerging generation of scholars who open up novel and important avenues for research, as well as commentaries by established scholars such as Lorraine Daston, Martin Kemp, Bruno Latour, and others from the original volume, to elaborate on continuities and changes in our approach to the important topic of representation in scientific practice.Less
Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited, the long-awaited sequel to the influential volume, Representation in Scientific Practice, unites original editors Michael Lynch and Steve Woolgar with colleagues Catelijne Coopmans and Janet Vertesi to present a new series of essays that sets the bar for the study of representation in science in the twenty-first century. Chapters span a range of topics, including molecular modeling, nano-imaging, mathematical formalisms, and digital imagery in neuroscience, planetary science, and biology - as well as business data visualization, economics diagrams and technology-mediated surgery. They draw on a widened range of disciplinary perspectives (on information, communication, and culture) and themes (embodiment, materiality, digitality) to elaborate original implications for the study of imaging and scientific visualization, broadly conceived. The book features work by an emerging generation of scholars who open up novel and important avenues for research, as well as commentaries by established scholars such as Lorraine Daston, Martin Kemp, Bruno Latour, and others from the original volume, to elaborate on continuities and changes in our approach to the important topic of representation in scientific practice.
Christina Dunbar-Hester
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262028127
- eISBN:
- 9780262320498
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262028127.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The United States ushered in a new era of small-scale broadcasting in 2000 when it began issuing low-power FM (LPFM) licenses for noncommercial radio stations around the country. Over the next ...
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The United States ushered in a new era of small-scale broadcasting in 2000 when it began issuing low-power FM (LPFM) licenses for noncommercial radio stations around the country. Over the next decade, several hundred of these newly created low-wattage stations took to the airwaves. This book describes the practices of an activist organization focused on LPFM during this era. Despite its origins as a pirate broadcasting collective, the group eventually shifted toward building and expanding regulatory access to new, licensed stations. These radio activists consciously cast radio as an alternative to digital utopianism, promoting an understanding of electronic media that emphasizes the local community rather than a global audience of Internet users. The book focuses on how these radio activists impute emancipatory politics to the “old” medium of radio technology by promoting the idea that “microradio” broadcasting holds the potential to empower ordinary people at the local community level. The group’s methods combine political advocacy with a rare commitment to hands-on technical work with radio hardware, although the activists’ hands-on, inclusive ethos was hampered by persistent issues of race, class, and gender. This study of activism around an “old” medium offers broader lessons about how political beliefs are expressed through engagement with specific technologies.Less
The United States ushered in a new era of small-scale broadcasting in 2000 when it began issuing low-power FM (LPFM) licenses for noncommercial radio stations around the country. Over the next decade, several hundred of these newly created low-wattage stations took to the airwaves. This book describes the practices of an activist organization focused on LPFM during this era. Despite its origins as a pirate broadcasting collective, the group eventually shifted toward building and expanding regulatory access to new, licensed stations. These radio activists consciously cast radio as an alternative to digital utopianism, promoting an understanding of electronic media that emphasizes the local community rather than a global audience of Internet users. The book focuses on how these radio activists impute emancipatory politics to the “old” medium of radio technology by promoting the idea that “microradio” broadcasting holds the potential to empower ordinary people at the local community level. The group’s methods combine political advocacy with a rare commitment to hands-on technical work with radio hardware, although the activists’ hands-on, inclusive ethos was hampered by persistent issues of race, class, and gender. This study of activism around an “old” medium offers broader lessons about how political beliefs are expressed through engagement with specific technologies.
J. Allan Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816689965
- eISBN:
- 9781452949529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816689965.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
The third essay proposes that the condition of human dependency and self-estrangement at the dining table. Otherwise incommensurable matters (mineral, vegetable, and animal) are incorporated at ...
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The third essay proposes that the condition of human dependency and self-estrangement at the dining table. Otherwise incommensurable matters (mineral, vegetable, and animal) are incorporated at mealtime. Conduct literature trains the young to become deeply involved in the material medium, and romance and allegory is equally invested in the objective mess.Less
The third essay proposes that the condition of human dependency and self-estrangement at the dining table. Otherwise incommensurable matters (mineral, vegetable, and animal) are incorporated at mealtime. Conduct literature trains the young to become deeply involved in the material medium, and romance and allegory is equally invested in the objective mess.
Shiju Sam Varughese
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199469123
- eISBN:
- 9780199087433
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199469123.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
When a series of micro-earthquakes struck Kerala, various scientific institutions provided contradictory explanations regarding the epicentres and magnitudes, leading to public criticism. The ...
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When a series of micro-earthquakes struck Kerala, various scientific institutions provided contradictory explanations regarding the epicentres and magnitudes, leading to public criticism. The regional media actively facilitated the public contestation of knowledge claims by different groups of experts. The media deliberation also brought in public anxiety about reservoir-induced seismicity as the epicentre of the quakes was near the Idukki dam. The gradual shift of deliberative focus from the potential threat posed by Idukki dam to the old Mullaperiyar dam is analysed to expose how regionalism and inter-state conflicts crucially shaped the scientific controversy. The controversy intensified after the devastating Gujarat earthquake on 26 January 2001. The fear of a looming disaster aggravated when a range of unnatural geophysical phenomena, among which well collapses were the most prominent, appeared in Kerala, leading to more conflicts among researchers as well as between the experts and the public.Less
When a series of micro-earthquakes struck Kerala, various scientific institutions provided contradictory explanations regarding the epicentres and magnitudes, leading to public criticism. The regional media actively facilitated the public contestation of knowledge claims by different groups of experts. The media deliberation also brought in public anxiety about reservoir-induced seismicity as the epicentre of the quakes was near the Idukki dam. The gradual shift of deliberative focus from the potential threat posed by Idukki dam to the old Mullaperiyar dam is analysed to expose how regionalism and inter-state conflicts crucially shaped the scientific controversy. The controversy intensified after the devastating Gujarat earthquake on 26 January 2001. The fear of a looming disaster aggravated when a range of unnatural geophysical phenomena, among which well collapses were the most prominent, appeared in Kerala, leading to more conflicts among researchers as well as between the experts and the public.
J. Allan Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816689965
- eISBN:
- 9781452949529
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816689965.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
A provocative historical inquiry into human becoming, this book consists of a set of idiosyncratic essays on embryology and infancy, play and games, manners, meals, and other messes. Inspecting a ...
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A provocative historical inquiry into human becoming, this book consists of a set of idiosyncratic essays on embryology and infancy, play and games, manners, meals, and other messes. Inspecting a wide range of textual, visual, and artefactual evidence in and beyond medieval England, Mitchell argues that humanity issued from a dense material matrix that is barely human. Congeries of animate and inanimate objects expose the extent to which the human learned to dwell among a welter of things. Becoming (ontogeny) turns out to be a better category than being (ontology) for capturing the conjugated modes of existence required for sustaining life at various scales. While Mitchell makes important contributions to medieval scholarship on the body, sexuality, family, medicine, and material culture, his work is also in dialogue with recent developments in the posthumanities. The book theorizes what can be called a medieval ecological imaginary, offering a longer historical perspective on the fate of the human than is usually found in modern discussions. Mitchell returns to early understandings of epigenesis, virtuality, natality, chaos, animation, and cosmogony to trace the inheritance of modern speculative and scientific notions usually considered in isolation from the past. He explores a broad array of phenomenal objects, and in the process rediscovers and reanimates distinctly medieval ontologies. In addressing the emergency of the human in the later Middle Ages, Mitchell identifies ideas of becoming in the past where humanity is and remains at risk.Less
A provocative historical inquiry into human becoming, this book consists of a set of idiosyncratic essays on embryology and infancy, play and games, manners, meals, and other messes. Inspecting a wide range of textual, visual, and artefactual evidence in and beyond medieval England, Mitchell argues that humanity issued from a dense material matrix that is barely human. Congeries of animate and inanimate objects expose the extent to which the human learned to dwell among a welter of things. Becoming (ontogeny) turns out to be a better category than being (ontology) for capturing the conjugated modes of existence required for sustaining life at various scales. While Mitchell makes important contributions to medieval scholarship on the body, sexuality, family, medicine, and material culture, his work is also in dialogue with recent developments in the posthumanities. The book theorizes what can be called a medieval ecological imaginary, offering a longer historical perspective on the fate of the human than is usually found in modern discussions. Mitchell returns to early understandings of epigenesis, virtuality, natality, chaos, animation, and cosmogony to trace the inheritance of modern speculative and scientific notions usually considered in isolation from the past. He explores a broad array of phenomenal objects, and in the process rediscovers and reanimates distinctly medieval ontologies. In addressing the emergency of the human in the later Middle Ages, Mitchell identifies ideas of becoming in the past where humanity is and remains at risk.
