Science in the Context of Application

by Martin Carrier (Editor), Alfred Nordmann (Editor)

Overview

We increasingly view the world around us as a product of science and technology. Accordingly, we have begun to appreciate that science does not take its problems only from nature and then produces technological applications, but that the very problems of scientific research themselves are generated by science and technology. Simultaneously, problems like global warming, the toxicology of nanoparticles, or the use of renewable energies are constituted by many factors that interact with great complexity. Science in the context of application is challenged to gain new understanding and control of such complexity—it cannot seek shelter in the ivory tower or simply pursue its internal quest for understanding and gradual improvement of grand theories. Science in the Context of Application will identify, explore and assess these changes. Part I considers the "Changing Conditions of Scientific Research" and part II "Science, Values, and Society". Examples are drawn from pharmaceutical research, the information sciences, simulation modelling, nanotechnology, cancer research, the effects of commercialization, and many other fields. The book assembles papers from well-known European and American Science Studies scholars like Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Janet Kourany, Michael Mahoney, Margaret Morrison, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, Arie Rip, Dan Sarewitz, Peter Weingart, and others. The individual chapters are written to address anyone who is concerned about the role of contemporary science in society, including scientists, philosophers, and policy makers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789048190508
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	12/01/2010
Series:	Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science , #274
Edition description:	2011
Pages:	492
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.50(d)

Table of Contents

Science in the Context of Application: Methodological Change, Conceptual Transformation, Cultural Reorientation Martin Carrier Alfred Nordmann 1

Part I Changing Conditions of Scientific Research: Science and Technology

Knowledge, Politics, and Commerce: Science Under the Pressure of Practice Martin Carrier 11

Between the Pure and Applied: The Search for the Elusive Middle Ground Margaret Morrison 31

Science in the Context of Industrial Application: The Case of the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium Marc J. de Vries 47

Multi-Level Complexities in Technological Development: Competing Strategies for Drug Discovery Matthias Adam 67

Theory and Therapy: On the Conceptual Structure of Models in Medical Research Martin Carrier Patrick Finzer 85

Materials as Machines Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent 101

Part II Changing Conditions of Scientific Research: The Role of Instruments

Holism and Entrenchment in Climate Model Validation Johannes Lenhard Eric Winsberg 115

Computational Science and Its Effects Paul Humphreys 131

Expertise in Methods, Methods of Expertise Carsten Reinhardt 143

Recent Orientations and Reorientations in the Life Sciences Hans-Jörg Rheinberger 161

Transforming Objects into Data: How Minute Technicalities of Recording "Species Location" Entrench a Basic Challenge for Biodiversity Ayelet Shavit James Griesemer 169

Part III Changing Conditions of Scientific Research: Institutional Changes in Applied Research

Protected Spaces of Science: Their Emergence and Further Evolution in a Changing World Arie Rip 197

The Cognitive, Instrumental and Institutional Origins of Nanoscale Research: The Place of Biology Anne Marcovich Terry Shinn 221

Part IV Science, Values and Society: Economic, Political and Public Relations of Research

Bringing the Marketplace into Science: On the Neoliberal Defense of the Commercialization of Scientific Research Justin Biddle 245

Medical Market Failures and Their Remedy James Robert Brown 271

Thoughts on Politicization of Science Through Commercialization M. Norton Wise 283

Political Effectiveness in Science and Technology Daniel Sarewitz 301

The Political Economy of Technoscience Astrid Schwarz Alfred Nordmann 317

Science, the Public and the Media - Views from Everywhere Peter Weingart 337

Part V Science, Values and Society: Freedom of Research and Social Accountability

Conditions of Science: The Three-Way Tension of Freedom, Accountability and Utility Torsten Wilholt Hans Glimell 351

Integrating the Ethical into Scientific Rationality Janet A. Kourany 371

Part VI Science, Values and Society: Historical Transformations

What Makes Computer Science a Science? Michael S. Mahoney 389

Black-Boxing Organisms, Exploiting the Unpredictable: Control Paradigms in Human-Machine Translations Jutta Weber 409

An Epoch-Making Change in the Development of Science? A Critique of the "Epochal-Break-Thesis" Gregor Schiemann 431

Everything New Is Old Again: What Place Should Applied Science Have in the History of Science? Ann Johnson 455

Science in the Context of Technology Alfred Nordmann 467

Index 483

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews:

“This is a weighty book in its ambition … and in the quality of thought that the articles convey. … this volume deserves careful reading by all those interested in modern science. … the book concentrates on three areas – information technology (including the problems of making silicon chips), biotechnology, and nanotechnology – each of which is closely related to chemistry.” (Robert Bud, AMBIX, Vol. 59 (3), November, 2012)

From the Publisher