Social Studies of Science and Technology: Looking Back, Ahead

This volume brings together contributions that resemble spotlights thrown on the past twenty-five years of science and technology studies. The contributions cover a broad range: history of science; science and politics; science and contemporary democracy; science and the public; science and the constitution; science and metaphors; and science and modernity. The contributors provide a critical overview of how the field of science and technology studies has emerged and developed. While assessing major achievements and potential, they also cast a critical view on deficiencies; provide a diagnosis of where we stand at present and articulate thoughtful concerns about where to go from here. The 2002 Sociology of the Sciences Yearbook provides ideal teaching material for discussion in class. Social Studies of Science and Technology: Looking Back, Ahead is for practising professionals and students in social studies of science and technology. It is also relevant to social scientists who realize the importance of science and technology in contemporary society and to natural scientists who want to find out what this field has to offer.