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From the bestselling author of Imperfection, a theory of uncertainty as the very core of the scientific method—and the essence of its wonder.How many times have we looked for something and found something else? A partner, a job, an object? The same thing often happens to scientists: they design an experiment and discover the unexpected, which usually turns out to be very important. This fascinating phenomenon is called serendipity, which takes its name from the mythical Serendip, a place from which, according to a Persian fable, three princes set off to explore the world, making chance discoveries along the way. In Serendipity, the award-winning author of Imperfection Telmo Pievani returns to weave a compelling story about the unexpected in science and its fascinating role in our understanding of the world. Going far beyond the usual examples of penicillin, X-rays, the microwave oven, and Christopher Columbus, Pievani shows that the most surprising stories of serendipity in the history of science reveal profound aspects of the logic of scientific discovery. In this book, he presents for the first time: an archaeology of the idea; a taxonomy of serendipitous discoveries; an “ecology of serendipity” (the surrounding conditions and factors that can promote it); and lastly, a theory of serendipity (why it occurs so frequently in so many sciences). From Zadig to Sherlock Holmes, Pievani shows that such great discoveries are not just the product of luck. Instead, serendipity comes from a mix of cunning, curiosity, sagacity, imagination, and accidents caught on the fly. Serendipity illuminates how much we don't know and how much we don't even know we don't know. Above all, Pievani reminds us that the human brain is of a piece with the world it is investigating—a world so much bigger than our knowledge—and it has also evolved within that world, adapting as it has to.

This anthology is a unique compilation of scientific contributions on the topic of measurement and understanding, showing how terms such as number, measurement, understanding, model, pattern are used in a wide variety of disciplines. Based on the results and experiences from their own projects, 23 researchers comment on the potentials and limitations of individual methodological approaches and success factors of interdisciplinary collaboration. In doing so, they sound out the different significance of quantification and empirical evidence for their own disciplines and examine the influence of methodological approaches on existing models and images. The common goal is to want to understand the world; the methods, however, are highly diverse.

This open access book provides a broad context for the understanding of current problems of science and of the different movements aiming to improve the societal impact of science and research. The author offers insights with regard to ideas, old and new, about science, and their historical origins in philosophy and sociology of science, which is of interest to a broad readership. The book shows that scientifically grounded knowledge is required and helpful in understanding intellectual and political positions in various discussions on the grand challenges of our time and how science makes impact on society. The book reveals why interventions that look good or even obvious, are often met with resistance and are hard to realize in practice. Based on a thorough analysis, as well as personal experiences in aids research, university administration and as a science observer, the author provides - while being totally open regarding science's limitations- a realistic narrative about how research is conducted, and how reliable ‘objective'knowledge is produced. His idea of science, which draws heavily on American pragmatism, fits in with the global Open Science movement. It is argued that Open Science is a truly and historically unique movement in that it translates the analysis of the problems of science into major institutional actions of system change in order to improve academic culture and the impact of science, engaging all actors in the field of science and academia.

This book addresses controversies concerning the epistemological foundations of data science: Is it a genuine science? Or is data science merely some inferior practice that can at best contribute to the scientific enterprise, but cannot stand on its own? The author proposes a coherent conceptual framework with which these questions can be rigorously addressed. Readers will discover a defense of inductivism and consideration of the arguments against it: an epistemology of data science more or less by definition has to be inductivist, given that data science starts with the data. As an alternative to enumerative approaches, the author endorses Federica Russo's recent call for a variational rationale in inductive methodology. Chapters then address some of the key concepts of an inductivist methodology including causation, probability and analogy, before outlining an inductivist framework. The inductivist framework is shown to be adequate and useful for an analysis of the epistemological foundations of data science. The author points out that many aspects of the variational rationale are present in algorithms commonly used in data science. Introductions to algorithms and brief case studies of successful data science such as machine translation are included. Data science is located with reference to several crucial distinctions regarding different kinds of scientific practices, including between exploratory and theory-driven experimentation, and between phenomenological and theoretical science. Computer scientists, philosophers and data scientists of various disciplines will find this philosophical perspective and conceptual framework of great interest, especially as a starting point for further in-depth analysis of algorithms used in data science.

This edited collection opens up new intellectual territories and articulates the ways in which academics are theorising and practicing new forms of research in ‘wild'contexts. Many researchers are choosing to leave the familiarity of their laboratory-based settings in order to pursue in-situ studies ‘in the wild'that can help them to better understand the implications of their work in real-world settings. This has naturally led to ethical, philosophical and practical reappraisals with regard to the taken for granted lab-based modus operandi of scientific, cultural and design-based ways of working. This evolving movement has led to a series of critical debates opening up around the nature of research in the wild, but up until now these debates have not been drawn together in a coherent way that could be useful in an academic context. The book brings together applied, methodological and theoretical perspectives relating to this subject area, and provides a platform and a source of reference material for researchers, students and academics to base their work on. Cutting across multiple disciplines relating to philosophy, sociology, ethnography, design, human–computer interaction, science, history and critical theory, this timely collection appeals to a broad range of academics in varying fields of research.

Spätestens seit den 1980er Jahren hat sich rund um die Frage, wie Wissen hergestellt, zirkuliert und vermittelt wird, eine vielfältige, interdisziplinäre und internationale Forschungslandschaft herausgebildet. Das 2005 eröffnete Zürcher Zentrum »Geschichte des Wissens« hat diese Diskussionen maßgeblich mitgeprägt. Fünfzehn Jahre später werfen wir (Rück-)Blicke auf das Wissensparadigma aus verschiedenen disziplinären Perspektiven. Dieser letzte Band des Zürcher Jahrbuchs für Wissensgeschichte diskutiert unterschiedliche Genealogien, die für die Karriere von »Wissen« herangezogen werden können, wie etwa den Aufstieg der »Wissensgesellschaft«, die Abgrenzung zur Wissenschaftsforschung, die Etablierung der Kulturwissenschaften. Was waren und sind die Großwetterlagen, Dringlichkeiten, Motivatoren? Aber auch: Was waren und sind die blind spots in der Begeisterung für »Wissen«? Und wo wird die Wissensgeschichte verabschiedet? Und jetzt? Feierabend? Die Beiträge in diesem Band evaluieren Wissensforschung nicht nur kritisch und rückblickend, sondern fragen mit Blick auf Gegenwarten und mögliche Zukünfte, wie sich unser Verständnis von »Wissen« verändert und welche Forschungsfragen und -zugriffe sich eröffnen oder (neuerlich) aufdrängen – in Zeiten von post-truth und fake news, der Allgegenwart des Digitalen sowie aktueller wissenschaftlicher und gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen etwa durch Klimawandel oder Migration. Mit Beiträgen von Sandra Bärnreuther, Sabine Baier, Maria Böhmer, Cornelius Borck, Flurin Condrau, Monika Dommann, Anna Echterhölter, Kijan Espahangizi, Mareile Flitsch, Michael Hagner, Caspar Hirschi, Andreas Isler, Thomas Kaiser, Andreas B. Kilcher, Alexis Malefakis, Susanne Michl, Nicolas Pethes, Maike Powroznik, Philipp Sarasin, Max Stadler, Marianne Sommer, Rebekka Sutter, Jakob Tanner, Martina Wernsdörfer, Christa Wirth, Sophie Witt, Monika Wulz.

Wie reagiert die Wissenschaft auf Fehlverhalten innerhalb ihrer Gemeinschaft, an welchen Normen und Werten orientiert sie sich dabei und wie begründet sie diese? Felicitas Hesselmann untersucht die institutionellen Umgangsweisen mit wissenschaftlichem Fehlverhalten anhand von Interviews und Dokumentenanalysen. Theoretisch fundiert zeichnet sie das diese Verfahren prägende Spannungsfeld zwischen einer Ordnungsvorstellung wissenschaftlicher Selbstreinigung und einer Ordnungsvorstellung autoritativer Sanktion nach. Wissenschaft erscheint so als der seltene Fall einer sozialen Gemeinschaft ohne geteilte Normen, die an die Stelle des rechtsstaatlichen Versprechens auf Universalität und Stabilität ein Versprechen auf Unvorhersehbarkeit und Interpretationsoffenheit setzt.

Die Materialitäten der Wissenschaft – Räume, Objekte, Instrumente, Infrastrukturen – sind kein neues Thema. Hingegen sind bezüglich der materiellen Grundlagen von Forschungshandlungen noch viele Fragen offen. Zwar ist die Rede von Datenmaterial, Quellenmaterial, Beobachtungsmaterial etc. in den Wissenschaften weit verbreitet, es ist aber keineswegs einfach zur Hand. Auf welche Weise werden solche Materialien aktiv erzeugt, um als Basis von Forschungshandlungen nutzbar zu werden? Welche grundlegenden Erwägungen über den Forschungsgegenstand sowie über Eignung und Merkmale des herangezogenen Materials gehen mit der Erzeugung von Forschungsmaterial einher? Und wie wird das Material für Forschungsprozesse aus einem Kontext herausgelöst, in einen anderen migriert und dabei einer grundlegenden Transformation unterworfen? Die neue Ausgabe widmet sich der Frage, wie weit das angeeignete Material hergeben kann, was in ihm als Forschungsmaterial gesucht wird. Anhand von Fallbeispielen soll paradigmatisch verdeutlicht werden, wie die Materialgrundlage von Forschung von Tradierungen geprägt ist, wie aber auch die Erzeugung von Forschungsmaterial selbst Vorgaben etabliert, die sich später als Tradierungen geltend machen. Es interessieren die Präferenzen für bestimmte Forschungsmaterialien und forschungsökonomische Aspekte wie ein begrenztes Zeitbudget, die in solche Entscheidungen hineinspielen. Präsentiert werden Materialgeschichten aus den Natur-, Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften. Dazu Lektüren und ein freier Beitrag zur Geschichte des Konzepts »midlife crisis«.

Science and technology are playing increasingly important roles in our lives. New projects in development today will fundamentally shape the world around us, and manipulate our lived experience. But how and why are such important scientific and technological projects chosen, and what are the consequences of this process? In this book, Kate O'Riordan answers these crucial question. She discovers that many objects, such as genomes and genomic projects, smart grids, de-extinction projects and biosensors cannot be granted scientific legitimacy and developed without extraordinary amounts of media, public relations, celebrity endorsements and private investment. As a result of these filters, only certain projects take centre stage when it comes to funding and political attention. O'Riordan calls these'unreal objects'- scientific projects and technologies where utopian visions for the future are combined with investment and materialisation in the here and now. This attention to these unreal objects hides many current social issues, especially injustices and inequalities. At the same time they conjure utopian visions for how life might be improved.

A short, provocative book about why'useless'science often leads to humanity's greatest technological breakthroughsA forty-year tightening of funding for scientific research has meant that resources are increasingly directed toward applied or practical outcomes, with the intent of creating products of immediate value. In such a scenario, it makes sense to focus on the most identifiable and urgent problems, right? Actually, it doesn't. In his classic essay'The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge,'Abraham Flexner, the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the man who helped bring Albert Einstein to the United States, describes a great paradox of scientific research. The search for answers to deep questions, motivated solely by curiosity and without concern for applications, often leads not only to the greatest scientific discoveries but also to the most revolutionary technological breakthroughs. In short, no quantum mechanics, no computer chips.This brief book includes Flexner's timeless 1939 essay alongside a new companion essay by Robbert Dijkgraaf, the Institute's current director, in which he shows that Flexner's defense of the value of'the unobstructed pursuit of useless knowledge'may be even more relevant today than it was in the early twentieth century. Dijkgraaf describes how basic research has led to major transformations in the past century and explains why it is an essential precondition of innovation and the first step in social and cultural change. He makes the case that society can achieve deeper understanding and practical progress today and tomorrow only by truly valuing and substantially funding the curiosity-driven'pursuit of useless knowledge'in both the sciences and the humanities.

Der Sammelband zeigt, wie dem akademischen Nachwuchs eine kritische Reflexion auf die eigene Wissenschaft, auf deren Inhalte und Methoden vermittelt werden kann. Dabei bringt er verschiedene Themenfelder und Akteure zusammen und ermöglicht den Wissenstransfer u. a. aus Wissenschaftsphilosophie, Wissenschaftsethik und Wissenschaftssoziologie in den Bereich der Graduiertenförderung bzw. Qualifizierung von Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen und -wissenschaftlern. Die Autorinnen und Autoren des Bandes stellen nicht nur die Notwendigkeit einer reflexiven wissenschaftlichen Bildung dar, sondern bieten inhaltliche und methodische Ansatzpunkte sowie Praxisbeispiele.

Officials and religious scholars in the Gulf states have repeatedly banned the teaching of the theory of evolution because of its association with atheism. But Jorg Matthias Determann argues here that, despite official prohibition, research on biological evolution has flourished, due in large part to the development of academic and professional networks. This book traces these networks through the history of various branches of biology, including botany, conservation research, ornithology and palaeontology. Typical of rentier societies, some of the scientific networks in this region consist of vertical patron-client relationships. For example, those in power who are interested in wildlife conservation have been known to offer patronage to biologists working on desert ecology. However, just as important are the horizontal links between scientists both within the Gulf region and beyond. Given the strengths and importance of these two forms of professional networks, Determann argues that we should look at the Arab world as an area interconnected with global science, and therefore fully integrated into the scientific and technological advances being pioneered worldwide.

Demands of the Day asks about the logical standards and forms that should guide ethical and experimental anthropology in the twenty-first century. Anthropologists Paul Rabinow and Anthony Stavrianakis do so by taking up Max Weber's notion of the “demands of the day.” Just as the demand of the day for anthropology decades ago consisted of thinking about fieldwork, today, they argue, the demand is to examine what happens after, how the experiences of fieldwork are gathered, curated, narrated, and ultimately made available for an anthropological practice that moves beyond mere ethnographic description. Rabinow and Stavrianakis draw on experiences from an innovative set of anthropological experiments that investigated how and whether the human and biological sciences could be brought into a mutually enriching relationship. Conceptualizing the anthropological and philosophic ramifications of these inquiries, they offer a bold challenge to contemporary anthropology to undertake a more rigorous examination of its own practices, blind spots, and capacities, in order to meet the demands of our day.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.Scientific Freedom is the first comprehensive collection covering both the state of scientific progress and the ethics, law and history of scientific research. The book gives readers a fascinating range of perspectives on matters of scientific research that directly affect all of us. Examining the ethical, legal, social, economic and political issues surrounding freedom of scientific research, the book evaluates ways in which national and international policies can impact upon individuals'access to potentially life-saving treatment, cures and technologies, and can therefore affect human life and death. With contributions from Nobel Laureates, representatives of patients'associations, scientists, scholars and politicians, this book provides a concise and comprehensive view of the limitations and dangers facing the future of innovation and scientific progress.

These essays on Finalization in Science - The Social Orientation of Scientific Progress comprise a remarkable, problematic and controversial book. The authors propose a thesis about the social direction of scientific research which was the occasion of a lively and often bitter debate in Germany from 1976 to 1982. Their provocative thesis, briefly, is this: that modern science converges, historically, to the development of a number of'closed theories', i. e. stable and relatively completed sciences, no longer to be improved by small changes but only by major changes in an entire theoretical structure. Further: that at such a stage of'mature theory', the formerly viable norm of intra-scientific autonomy may appropriately be replaced by the social direction'of further scientific research (within such a'mature'field) for socially relevant or, we may bluntly say,'task-oriented'purposes. This is nothing less than a theory for the planning and social directing of science, under certain specific conditions. Understandably, it raised the sharp objections that such an approach would subordinate scientific inquiry as a free and untrammeled search for truth to the dictates of social relevance and dominant interests, even possibly to dictation and control for particularistic social and political interests.

Die Wissenschaft sieht sich zunehmend mit der Anforderung konfrontiert, politik- und handlungsrelevantes Wissen bereitzustellen. Gleichzeitig wird ein Rückgang an Vertrauen in die Wissenschaft beklagt und die Forderung nach risikosensibler sowie problem- und nutzenorientierter Forschung erhoben. Aus diesem Spannungsfeld heraus ergeben sich vielfältige Fragen nach den Grundlagen, Möglichkeiten und Grenzen von Wissenschaft sowie nach der Bedeutung wissenschaftlicher Expertise für politische Entscheidungen. Die Beiträge des Bandes widmen sich diesem Fragenkomplex aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven und ermöglichen so neue Einblicke in die Bedeutung des wissenschaftlichen Wissens und der Expertise für Gesellschaft und Politik.

An American Scientist on the Research Frontier is the first scholarly study of the nineteenth-century American scientist Edward Williams Morley. In part, it is the long-overdue story of a man who lent his name to the Michelson and Morley Ether-Drift Experiment, and who conclusively established the atomic weight of oxygen. It is also the untold story of science in provincial America: what Hamerla presents as science on the'American research frontier'. This important examination of Morley's struggle for personal and professional legitimacy extends and transforms our understanding of science during a foundational period, and leads to a number of unique conclusions that are vital to the literature and historiography of science. By revealing important aspects of the scientific culture of the American heartland, An American Scientist on the Research Frontier deepens our understanding of an individual scientist and of American science more broadly. In so doing, Hamerla changes the way we approach and understand the creation of scientific knowledge, scientific communities, and the history of science itself.

There has been a flare-up in interest in science policy and a key factor in this is the increased interest in analysing the role that research can play in informing policy making. A pioneering venture in this field was Government and Research: The Rothschild Experiment in a Government Department (1983) Heinemann. No other work had penetrated the deepest recesses of government to observe at first hand the attempts of a major department to determine its research agenda through collaboration with leading scientists in a wide range of fields, to observe how research was commissioned, and then evaluated by scientific teams, and how it began to enter the policy blood streams of the departments. This revised and augmented version updates the original text for current policy concerns and takes account of changes in science policy studies, whilst preserving its essential themes. It contains a succinct account of where matters now stand as well as an extended analysis of the themes that continue to dominate research and science policy.

The project of science has been to provide answers to questions about the world and how it works. Often, this lofty role has been characterised by a narrow and dogmatic scientific training, an unwillingness to communicate to differing stakeholder needs, a refusal to accept and to manage uncertainty, complexity and value commitments, and the reduction of knowledge assessment to colleague peer review on narrowly technical issues. Times have changed. As the world faces increasingly disparate challenges, science is subjected to increasingly vehement demands from a society calling for transparency, openness and public participation in science policy. Science is going through an evolutionary process. Perhaps the most painful process it has ever encountered. Research on the interfaces between science and society is a burgeoning area. A new conception of knowledge now appears to be emerging, based on the awareness of complexity, uncertainty and a plurality of legitimate perspectives and interests. Democracy is extending into the previously quite exclusive scientific realm, and science must now submit to public scrutiny and participation in the governance of knowledge. This book provides much-needed reflections on the methods and tools for knowledge quality assurance, particularly on its inputs to extended policy and decision-making processes. The overall aim is to improve the relationship between science and society. The discussion involves six themes: communicating between plural perspectives; accepting and learning how to manage uncertainty, complexity and value commitments; acknowledging new conceptions of knowledge; implementing transparency, openness and participation in science policy; valuing community-based research; and exploring how new ICT can support inclusive governance. Taken together, these themes provide both a framework and vision on how to conceive, discuss and evaluate the changes that are occurring. The chapters cover theory, practice, approaches, experiences, ideas and suggestions for a move beyond'talking the talk'to'walking the walk'. Science and policy interfaces are dynamic processes needing to permanently redefine themselves and their roles. This book contributes to the enrichment and deepening of our understanding of these important new trends in the social relations of science, which are fundamental to our understanding of the prospects for further progress. The book will be essential reading for scientists, policy-makers, managers and the public.

Human embryonic stem cells can divide indefinitely and have the potential to develop into many types of tissue. Research on these cells is essential to one of the most intriguing medical frontiers, regenerative medicine. It also raises a host of difficult ethical issues and has sparked great public interest and controversy.This book offers a foundation for thinking about the many issues involved in human embryonic stem cell research. It considers questions about the nature of human life, the limits of intervention into human cells and tissues, and the meaning of our corporeal existence. The fact that stem cells may be derived from living embryos that are destroyed in the process or from aborted fetuses ties the discussion of stem cell research to the ongoing debates on abortion. In addition to these issues, the essays in the book touch on broader questions such as who should approve controversial research and what constitutes human dignity, respect, and justice. The book contains contributions from the Ethics Advisory Board of the Geron Coroporation; excerpts from expert testimony given before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, which helped shape recent National Institutes of Health policy; and original analytical essays on the implications of this research.

An anecdotal guide for the perplexed new investigator as well as a refreshing resource for the old pro, covering everything from valuable personality traits for an investigator to social factors conducive to scientific work.Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a mythic figure in science. Hailed as the father of modern anatomy and neurobiology, he was largely responsible for the modern conception of the brain. His groundbreaking works were New Ideas on the Structure of the Nervous System and Histology of the Nervous System in Man and Vertebrates. In addition to leaving a legacy of unparalleled scientific research, Cajal sought to educate the novice scientist about how science was done and how he thought it should be done. This recently rediscovered classic, first published in 1897, is an anecdotal guide for the perplexed new investigator as well as a refreshing resource for the old pro.Cajal was a pragmatist, aware of the pitfalls of being too idealistic—and he had a sense of humor, particularly evident in his diagnoses of various stereotypes of eccentric scientists. The book covers everything from valuable personality traits for an investigator to social factors conducive to scientific work.