Making Natural Knowledge: Constructivism and the History of Science, with a new Preface

by Jan Golinski

Arguably the best available introduction to constructivism, a research paradigm that has dominated the history of science for the past forty years, Making Natural Knowledge reflects on the importance of this theory, tells the history of its rise to prominence, and traces its most important tensions.

Viewing scientific knowledge as a product of human culture, Jan Golinski challenges the traditional trajectory of the history of science as steady and autonomous progress. In exploring topics such as the social identity of the scientist, the significance of places where science is practiced, and the roles played by language, instruments, and images, Making Natural Knowledge sheds new light on the relations between science and other cultural domains.

"A standard introduction to historically minded scholars interested in the constructivist programme. In fact, it has been called the 'constructivist's bible' in many a conference corridor."—Matthew Eddy, British Journal for the History of Science

Genres: History Of Science, History, Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 1998

Reviews

[Sharad Pandian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction and overview of constructivism and the uses it has been put to. His aim, as set out in the original preface:

What follows is a kind of extended historiographical essay, a review of recent writing about the history of the sciences. It is not, however, a comprehensive survey; rather, it is selective and written from a clearly defined point of view. My aim is to explore the implications of what I have called a "constructivist" view of science for the question of how its history is to be written. By a "constructivist" outlook, I mean that which regards scientific knowledge primarily as a human product, made with locally situated cultural and material resources, rather than as simply the revelation of a pre-given order of nature. (xvii)

I have chosen to trace the roots of the constructivist outlook to the philosophical arguments of the 1960s and 1970s, surrounding Thomas Kuhn's work and that of the succeeding "Strong Programme" and the "sociology of scientific knowledge." As I shall explain in the Introduction and in Chapter 1, I see the significance of this work as lying in its break with the project of epistemological validation of scientific knowledge - a break that brought in its train a series of novel techniques for the study of science as an aspect of human culture. I propose, in other words, that the uncoupling of historical and sociological inquiry from issues of truth, or realism, or objectivity opened the way to a remarkably productive period in the understanding of science as a human enterprise. Historians, and the others now involved in the interdisciplinary field of "science studies," continue to have reason to be grateful to those who took that step. (viii)

The table of contents summarizes quite well the specific themes explored.

Introduction: Challenges to the Classical View of Science

1. An Outline of Constructivism
From Kuhn to the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge
What's Social about Constructivism?

2. Identity and Discipline
The Making of a Social Identity
The Disciplinary Mold

3. The Place of Production
The Workshop of Nature
Beyond the Laboratory Walls

4. Speaking for Nature
The Open Hand
Stepping into the Circle

5. Interventions and Representations
Instruments and Objects
The Work of Representation

6. Culture and Construction
The Meanings of Culture
Regimes of Construction

Coda: The Obligations of Narrative

Published originally in 1998, it seems to me to hold up remarkably well because most of the theorists I value in the tradition had finished working by then. It certainly doesn't help that Golinski shares my instincts about the usefulness of treating history and sociology of science together, and in our shared valuing of figures like Simon Schaffer, Steven Shapin, Barnes and Bloor, Pickering, Latour (with reservation), Harry Collins, Peter Galison, etc. There were also a number of casestudies I hadn't been aware of or haven't got around to reading yet, so this was also a great resource for further work.