1. From Science to Research: A Historical Introduction

1. Theories of Science and Research 1. From Science to Research: A Historical Introduction Andrew Jamison

2. Looking for an expression that could capture the change that has occurred in the last century and a half in the relation between science and society, I can find no better way than to say that we have shifted from Science to Research. Science is certainty; Research is uncertainty. Science is supposed to be cold, straight and detached; Research is warm, involving and risky. Science puts an end to the vagaries of human disputes; Research fuels controversies by more controversies. Science produces objectivity by escaping as much as possible from the shackles of ideology, passions and emotions; Research feeds on all of those as so many handles to render familiar new objects of enquiry . Bruno Latour (in Science 1998) By way of introduction...

3. What is science? • A part of society (macro level) • economy, military • state, civil society • culture, everyday life • Institutional systems (meso level) • research, education and dissemination • technological innovations, product development • Forms of knowledge (micro level) • theoretical: academic disciplines • practical: skills, competence • ethical: values, assessment

4. The social functions of science • Economic (natural and engineering sciences) ”useful knowledge” (Francis Bacon), artefacts • Social-administrative (social sciences) ”positive knowledge” (August Comte), facts • Cultural-spiritual (human sciences) ”enlightenment” (Immanuel Kant), ideas

5. Natural and engineering sciences • forces of production, weapons of destruction • motors of economic growth and development • sources of competition and competitiveness • intellectual property and commodities

6. Uses of the social sciences • sources of advice for policy making • a basis of administrative expertise and competence • elements of organizational management • tools for dealing with, or solving social problems

7. The humanities in society • public education, or cultivation (bildung, bildning) • elements in ethical-political debates • sources of cultural, or ethnic identity • a basis for democratic theory and practice

8. Scientific institutions • Research and educational systems • universities, academic institutions • Innovation and business systems • companies, commercial institutions • Communication and dissemination systems • journals, media(ting) institutions

9. The research system • a tradition of ”academic community” • relative autonomy, or independence • internal procedures of accountability • peer-review quality assessment

10. Systems of innovation • business firms and commercial networks • dependence on sponsorship • external criteria of problem selection • economic forms of assessment

11. Forms of scientific knowledge • Theoretical-philosophical (episteme) ”know why” • explanation, logical, or deductive rationality • Practical-technical (techne) ”know how” • understanding: instrumental, or inductive rationality • Ethical-political (fronesis) ”know what” • reason: communicative, or moral rationality

12. Science as theory • logical methods of argumentation • abstract (cause-effect) rationality • search for explanatory laws • a realist, or factual notion of truth

13. Science as practice • experimental methods of discovery • instrumental (means-ends) rationality • search for workable tools and instruments • a constructivist, or artefactual notion of truth

14. Science as ethics • reflective methods of judgment • communicative (values-action) rationality • search for reasonable ways of living • a pragmatic, or social notion of truth

15. A Brief History of Science • Ancient, or Traditional wisdom, up to about 1600 • spiritual knowledge, distinctive regional modes • gap between theory (episteme) and practice (techne) • Modern, or Western science, from about 1660 to 1980 • instrumental, rational, universal knowledge • functional interdependence of science and technology • Global, or Technoscience, from about 1980 • multiple forms of knowledge, commercial networks of innovation • combinations of science and technology

16. What was science in ancient civilizations? • As a part of society (macro level) • primarily used for purposes of conquest • expert advice to imperial authorities • separate cultures of ”wise men” and technicians • Institutional systems (meso level) • largely informal education and research systems • linked to infrastructural maintenance and social control • Forms of knowledge (micro level) • (theo)logical theories • embodied, artisanal practical knowledge • personalized ethical-religious wisdom

17. What was science in the 17th century? • As a part of society • providing ”intelligence” and expertise for monarchs • oriented toward mining, navigation, warfare • an emerging ideology for a new ”class” • Institutional systems • academies of science, state laboratories • trade and commerce (e.g. East India companies) • Forms of knowledge • analytical and mathematical theories • experimental and observational practices • utilitarian ethics (”the protestant ethic”)

18. What is (techno)science today? • As a part of society • basic administrative tools • direct productive – and destructive - force • dominant ideology, or cultural belief system • Institutional systems • integration of research and education: ”higher education” • symbiosis of technology and science: ”systems of innovation” • Forms of knowledge • complex and diverse theories • hybrid, collaborative forms of practice • ethical relativism and pluralism

19. An Age of Technoscience • blurring discursive boundaries • between science (episteme) and technology (techne) • breaking down institutional borders • between public and private, economic and academic • mixing skills and knowledge • across faculties, disciplines, and societal domains

20. Theories of Science and Research 2. The Emergence of Western Science Andrew Jamison

21. The Making of Modern Science From the Reformation… to the “scientific revolution” reform of society reform of philosophy visionary, utopian realistic, pragmatic decentralized organization (central) academy technical improvements scientific development informal communication formal publications

22. The Economic Story-Line • The agricultural revolution, ca 600-900 • The urban migration and growth of towns • The industrial revolution of the 12th century • Exploration and international trade • Mining and the rise of capitalism

23. From Arnold Pacey, The Maze of Ingenuity

24. The Cultural Story Line • A religion of the book, a supernatural God • Separation of nature and humanity • Monasticism and labor discipline • The rediscovery of ancient wisdom • A magical belief-system and sense of wonder • The hybrid imagination of the Renaissance

25. The ”Cathedral Crusade”

26. The influence of technology • Agricultural innovations (heavy plough) • Military innovations (guns and sails) • Regulation of time (mechanical clocks) • The Asian connection (compass, windmills) • Invention of printing

27. Johan Gutenberg and his Bible

28. ”Like any other extension of man, typography had psychic and social consequences that suddenly shifted previous boundaries and patterns of culture.” Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media (1964: 186)

29. Modern Science as Cultural Appropriation • At the discursive level: • A mechanical philosophy, or world-view • A language of mathematics • At the institutional level: • Media of communication • Academic organizations • At the practical level: • Technical applications • Experiments, instruments and methods

30. Francis Bacon (1561-1626): ”Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed...” At the discursive level...

31. At the institutional level... Gresham College in London, where the Royal Society first met in 1660 – and where the first scientific ”journal” was published in 1666

32. At the practical level... Robert Hooke and his microscope Robert Boyle and his air pump

34. Modern Scientific Knowledge Instrumental ”a rationality of means” (Weber) Experimental ”logic of discovery” (Popper) Systematic ”the order of things” (Foucault) Reductionist ”one-dimensional thought” (Marcuse) Objectifying ”the death of nature” (Merchant) Futuristic ”the myth of progress” (von Wright) Quantitative ”the measure of reality” (Crosby)

35. Modern Science as Hubris • scientism, or scientific rationalism: • science as a new (secular) religion • positivism, or logical empiricism: • science as superior to other ways of knowing • universalism, or cultural imperialism: • Western science as valid everywhere

36. Modern Science as Hybrids • Hybrid identities: • artist-engineers (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci) • scholar-craftsmen (e.g. Tycho Brahe) • Connecting episteme (theory) and techne (practice) • An experimental culture, or way of life • Meeting place between thinking and doing • Mixing ideas and action

37. The hybrid imagination 1 • The ”Renaissance Men”: Leonardo and co. • Artists and engineers in combination • Humanism combined with magic • Leads to the invention of experimentation • A kind of collective creativity • A new vision of humanity: homo faber, man the maker

38. Leonardo da Vinci: The artist-engineer

39. The hybrid imagination 2 • Scholars and craftsmen in combination • e.g. Paracelsus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo, Huygens • Inspired by Luther and ”Protestant Ethic” • Connected theory to observation • Leads to the invention of modern science • A new vision for humanity: secular enlightenment

40. Tycho Brahe: The scholar-craftsman

41. Christiaan Huygens 1629-1695 ”The world is my country, Science is my religion” His pendulum clock his telescopic equipment

42. ...and onto the enlightenment: Denis Diderot and his encyclopedia