Science Transformed? Debating Claims of an Epochal Break

Description

Advancements in computing, instrumentation, robotics, digital imaging, and simulation modeling have changed science into a technology-driven institution. Government, industry, and society increasingly exert their influence over science, raising questions of values and objectivity. These and other profound changes have led many to speculate that we are in the midst of an epochal break in scientific history. This edited volume presents an in-depth examination of these issues from philosophical, historical, social, and cultural perspectives. It offers arguments both for and against the epochal break thesis.“Science Transformed? is an important, readily accessible book that focuses on a crucial contemporary issue: the profound transformation of science, technology, and society of the past few decades. We are witnessing a break of an ‘epochal nature’ and Nordmann, Radder, and Schiemann have provided us with valuable insights into what is happening.”—Silvan Schweber, Brandeis University“Has science changed fundamentally during the last half century? Ready-made concepts abound that claim as much: from post-normal and technoscience to the advent of a mode-2. Few are substantiated empirically. This collection does just that: probing the theses of an epochal break from a range of disciplinary vantage points, unveiling the complexity behind the fashionable rhetoric, providing fascinating insights into the new ways of research.”—Peter Weingart, Bielefeld University“This is a book to like for its bold discussion technique . . . a large and well-executed project.”—International Studies in the Philosophy of Science