: Martin Carrier, Alfred Nordmann
: Martin Carrier, Alfred Nordmann
: Science in the Context of Application
: Springer-Verlag
: 9789048190515
: 1
: CHF 133.00
:
: Allgemeines, Lexika
: English
: 492
: Wasserzeichen/DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: PDF
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.
Contents6
Contributors9
Science in the Context of Application: Methodological Change, Conceptual Transformation, Cultural Reorientation11
Research Going Practical: A Break with the Epistemic Past?11
Changing Conditions of Scientific Research12
Science, Values, and Society14
Exploring Science in the Context of Application16
References17
Part I Changing Conditions of Scientific Research: Science and Technology18
Knowledge, Politics, and Commerce: Science Under the Pressure of Practice19
Research in Extra-Scientific Interest19
Problem Selection in Fundamental and Application-Driven Research21
Three Ways of Selecting Research Topics24
The Epistemic Dignity of Application-Oriented Research28
Benefit and Hazard of Application-Oriented Research35
References37
Between the Pure and Applied: The Search for the Elusive Middle Ground39
Introduction: Defining the Problem39
Superconductivity: Puzzling Phenomenon to Microscopic Theory42
From Materials Research to Josephson Junctions: Between Theory and Practice45
From Theory to Machines and Back Again48
Conclusions52
References53
Science in the Context of Industrial Application: The Case of the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium54
Introduction54
From Seamless Web to Ivory Tower56
The Pains of ``Fundamental'' Ambitions59
Finalization as a Feasible Alternative?64
Mode-2 and Interdisciplinarity as New Ideals67
Disentangling Dichotomies70
References72
Multi-Level Complexities in Technological Development: Competing Strategies for Drug Discovery74
An Obstinate Dilemma in Early Drug Development74
Rational Drug Design and Its Limits76
High-Throughput Screening as Alternative and Complement to Rational Design80
Systems Biology Challenges Mainstream Drug Discovery82
Is Emergence the Problem?86
References89
Theory and Therapy: On the Conceptual Structure of Models in Medical Research91
The Cascade Model: Control Presupposes Understanding91
Emergentism: The Limited Grip of General Theory92
The Interactive View: Theory-Based Structures Adjusted Empirically94
Biological Understanding and Medical Treatment96
Chronic Inflammation and Cancer98
Individualized Medicine and the Limits of the Cascade Model102