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LABORATORY LIFE
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Scientists often have an aversion to what nonscientists say about science. Scientific criticism by nonscientists is not practiced in the same way as literary criticism by those who are not novelists or poets. The closest one comes to scientific criticism is through journalists who have had an education in science, or through scientists who have written about their own personal experiences. Social studies of science and philosophy of science tend to be abstract or to deal with well- known historical events or remote examples that bear no relationship to what occurs daily at the laboratory bench or in the interactions between scientists in the pursuit of their goals. In addition, journalistic or sociological accounts seem sometimes to have the sole purpose of proving merely that scientists are also human. A love-hate relationship exists toward scientists in some segments of society. This is evident in accounts that deal with facets ranging from tremendously high expectations of scientific studies to their cost and their dangers—all of which ignore the content and process of scientific work itself. In the name of "science policy," studies of scientific activity by economists and sociologists are often concerned with numbers of publications and with duplication of effort. While such examinations are of some value, they leave much to be desired because, in part, the statistical tools are crude and these exercises are often aimed at controlling productivity and creativity. Most impor- tantly, they are not concerned with the substance of scientific thought and scientific work. For these reasons, scientists are not drawn to read what outsiders have to say about science and much prefer the views of scientists about scientific endeavors.
Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar - Personal Name
0-692-09418-7
NONE
Social Science
English
1-295
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