Science Studies

The first comprehensive survey of this interdisciplinary field, combining a concise overview of key concepts with an original and integrated framework.

Virtually every aspect of modern life is suffused with the biproducts of scientific research, yet the study of science itself—what it is, how it is done, and how it has evolved over time—is relatively new. By examining the political, historical, and cultural dimensions of science and technology, science studies provides a conceptual tool kit for thinking about scientific in more sophisticated ways.

In the process of bringing disparate fields together under one tent, David J. Hess realizes the full promise of science studies, long uncomfortably squeezed into other, more traditional disciplines. He provides a clear discussion of the issues and misunderstandings that have arisen in these interdisciplinary conversations. His survey includes recent developments in philosophy, sociology, anthropology, history, cultural studies, and feminist studies.

Science Studies moves beyond the discipline-bound blinders of a sociology, history, philosophy, or anthropology of science. By creating its own transdisciplinary field, Hess argues, science studies can provide crucial conceptual tools for public discussions about the role of science and technology in a democratic society.