| Physical description |
xi,322 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Scrutinizing Science Studies / Noretta Koertge -- Pt. I. The Strange World of Postmodernist Science Studies. 1. What the Social Text Affair Does and Does Not Prove / Alan D. Sokal. 2. What the Sokal Hoax Ought to Teach Us / Paul A. Boghossian. 3. A Plea for Science Studies / Philip Kitcher -- Pt. II. Myths, Metaphors, and Misreadings. 4. Bashful Eggs, Macho Sperm, and Tonypandy / Paul R. Gross. 5. An Engineer Dissects Two Case Studies: Hayles on Fluid Mechanics, and MacKenzie on Statistics / Philip A. Sullivan. 6. Evidence-Free Forensics and Enemies of Objectivity / Paul R. Gross. 7. Is Darwinism Sexist? (And if It Is, So What?) / Michael Ruse -- Pt. III. Interests, Ideology, and the Construction of Experiments. 8. When Experiments Fail: Is "Cold Fusion" Science as Normal? / William J. McKinney. 9. Avoiding the Experimenters' Regress / Allan Franklin. 10. Do Mutants Die of Natural Causes? The Case of Atomic Parity Violation / Allan Franklin. 11. Latour's Relativity / John Huth. |
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Pt. IV. Art, Nature, and the Rise of Experimental Method. 12. In Defense of Bacon / Alan Soble. 13. Alchemy, Domination, and Gender / William R. Newman. 14. What's Wrong with the Strong Programme's Case Study of the "Hobbes-Boyle" Dispute? / Cassandra L. Pinnick. 15. Reflections on Bruno Latour's Version of the Seventeenth Century / Margaret C. Jacob -- Pt. V. Civilian Casualties of Postmodern Perspectives on Science. 16. Postmodernisms and the Problem of Scientific Literacy / Noretta Koertge. 17. The End of Science, the Central Dogma of Science Studies, Monsieur Jourdain, and Uncle Vanya / Norman Levitt. 18. The Epistemic Charity of the Social Constructivist Critics of Science and Why the Third World Should Refuse the Offer / Meera Nanda. |
| Summary |
Cultural critics say that "science is politics by other means, " arguing that the results of scientific inquiry are profoundly shaped by the ideological, agendas of powerful elites. They base their claims on historical case studies purporting to show the systematic intrusion of sexist, racist, capitalist, colonialist, and/or professional, interests into the very content of science. In this hard-hitting collection of essays, contributors offer crisp and detailed critiques of case studies offered by the cultural critics as evidence that scientific results tell, us more about social context than they do about the natural world. Pulling no punches, they identify numerous crude factual blunders (e.g. that Newton never performed any experiments) and egregious errors of omission, such as the attempt to explain the slow development of fluid dynamics solely in terms of gender bias. Comprising new essays by distinguished scholars of history, philosophy, and science, this book raises a lively debate to a new level, of seriousness. |
| Other author |
Koertge, Noretta.
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| Subject |
Science.
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Science -- Social aspects.
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Science and state.
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Research -- Philosophy.
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| ISBN |
0195117255 No price |
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0195117263 (paperback) No price |
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0195117255 (cased) No price |
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