Misunderstanding Science?: The Public Reconstruction of Science and Technology

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Misunderstanding Science?: The Public Reconstruction of Science and Technology
Authors and Contributors      Edited by Alan Irwin
Edited by Brian Wynne
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:244
Dimensions(mm): Height 246,Width 189
Category/GenreImpact of science and technology on society
History of science
ISBN/Barcode 9780521525206
ClassificationsDewey:306.45
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 2 Tables, unspecified; 3 Maps

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 3 June 2004
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Misunderstanding Science? offers a challenging new perspective on the public understanding of science. In so doing, it also challenges existing ideas of the nature of science and its relationships with society. Its analysis and case presentation are highly relevant to current concerns over the uptake, authority, and effectiveness of science as expressed, for example, in areas such as education, medical/health practice, risk and the environment, technological innovation. Based on several in-depth case-studies, and informed theoretically by the sociology of scientific knowledge, the book shows how the public understanding of science questions raises issues of the epistemic commitments and institutional structures which constitute modern science. It suggests that many of the inadequacies in the social integration and uptake of science might be overcome if modern scientific institutions were more reflexive and open about the implicit normative commitments embedded in scientific cultures.

Reviews

'The case studies in Irwin and Wynne's volume ... contain several insights that scientists would find stimulating.' A. J. Meadows, Nature