Representation in Scientific Practice [Paperback]

Michael Lynch (Editor), Steve Woolgar (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 1990

The essays in this book provide an excellent introduction to the means by which scientists convey their ideas. While diverse in their subject matter, the essays are unified in asserting that scientists compose and use particular representations in contextually organized and contextually sensitive ways, and that these representations - particularly visual displays such as graphs, diagrams, photographs, and drawings - depend for their meaning on the complex activities in which they are situated.

The topics include sociological orientations to representational practice, representation and the realist-constructivist controversy, the fixation of evidence, time and documents in researcher interaction, selection and mathematization in the visual documentation of objects in the life sciences, the use of illustrations in texts (E.0. Wilson's Sociobiology, a field guide to the birds), representing practice in cognitive science, the iconography of scientific texts, and semiotic analysis of scientific, representation.

The contributors are K. Amann, Ronald Amerine, Françoise Bastide, Jack Bilmes, K. Knorr, Bruno Latour, John Law, Michael Lynch, Greg Meyers, Lucy A. Suchman, Paul Tibbetts, Steve Woolgar, and Steven Yearley.

Michael Lynch is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Boston University. Steve Woolgar is at the Centre for Research into Innovation Culture, and Technology at Brunel University, Uxbridge, England

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Lynch is Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1 edition (October 2, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262620766
• ISBN-13: 978-0262620765
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From the perspective of a student of science and technology studies (sts), April 16, 2009

By 

brandon costelloe-kuehn (troy, ny) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Representation in Scientific Practice (Paperback)

Science proceeds through the social interpretation of images that take a diverse range of forms. The articles that make up Representation in Scientific Practice examine the complex assemblies of representational forms that scientists compose in contextually sensitive ways. Examining the materiality of communication in scientific practice, these authors contribute to the understanding of science as social relations. They also demystify science by drawing parallels to other social endeavors and counter notions that science is necessarily the best and only way of knowing the world.

The authors in this collection reflect a wide range of theoretical frameworks and disciplinary backgrounds but primarily adopt an approach to representation that synthesizes semiotic, post-structuralist, and social-constructivist perspectives. Situating this work, Lynch and Woolgar provide a concise overview of science studies from the pre-`70s "institutional" studies abstracted from specific research contexts to the strong programme and the lab studies of the `80s. Studying representational practice in science provides opportunities to visit many of the recurring issues in the sociology of science. The authors reveal the heterogeneity of representational order, supporting a view of multiple "sciences" as opposed to a monolithic "Science."1 Issues of objectivity, authority, and power are also explored through attention to representation.