The course is conducted as a mixture of lecture, discussion, and other activities. The class meets on Monday and Wednesday for lecture and on Fridays in discussion sections. The discussion sections are an integral part of the course and attendance is required. In addition, a series of written assignments throughout the semester and a take-home final during exam week will compose the majority of your grade.

Sections:
Sec. 1: F 12:20-1:10, B-16 Rock
Sec. 2: F 12:20-1:10, G02 Baker
Sec. 3: F 11:15-12:05, B-16 Rock
Sec. 4: F 11:15-12:05, 124 GS
Sec. 5: F 11:15-12:05, G08 Baker
Sec. 6: F 12:20-1:10, G08 Baker

What is Science? Course packet available from Cornell Campus Store.

Additional reading materials listed below available via e-reserve or the Internet.

Part I: Visions of Science 1

Introductory Meeting  

1/20      No reading assignment

1/22      Karl Popper, "Science: Conjectures and Refutations" (1962) in John Hafton and Paul Plouffe, eds., Science and Its Ways of Knowing (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997).

1/27      "The Germs of Dissent: Louis Pasteur and the Origins of Life", The Golem, Ch. 4.

1/29      Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962/1986) Ch. 6, 8, 10.

            "Introduction," The Golem.

Part II: Contexts of Science

Observation  

2/3        Charles Goodwin, "Professional Vision", American Anthropologist v96 n3 (1994). e-reserve

2/5        "Edible Knowledge: The Chemical Transfer of Memory," The Golem, Ch. 1.

2/10      Ronald Bayer, "Politics, Science, and the Problem of Psychiatric Nomenclature: A Case Study of the American Psychiatric Association Referendum on Homosexuality" in H. Tristam Englehardt Jr and Arthur Caplan, eds., Scientific Controversies: Case Studies in the Resolution and Closure of Disputes in Science and Technology (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1987).

2/12      Harry Collins, "Replicating the TEA-Laser" in Changing Order: Replication and Induction in Scientific Practice (London: Sage, 1985), Ch. 3.

            Michael Mulkay and Nigel Gilbert, "Replication and Mere Replication" (1986) in Michael Mulkay, Sociology of Science: A Sociological Pilgrimage (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991).

2/17      "A New Window on the Universe: The Non-detection of Gravitational Radiation," The Golem, Ch. 5.

* * * Quiz, 2/17, in lecture * * *

2/19      No reading assignment.           

2/24      Bruno Latour, "Give Me a Laboratory and I Will Raise the World" in Karin Knorr-Cetina and Michael Mulkay, eds., Science Observed: Perspectives on the Social Study of Science (London: Sage, 1983).

2/26      Trevor Pinch, "The Sun-Set: The Presentation of Certainty in Scientific Life", Social Studies of Science v11 (1981). e-reserve

Part III: Visions of Science 2

Science as an Institution?  

3/3        Robert K. Merton, "The Normative Structure of Science" (1942) in Robert K. Merton, Sociology of Science (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973).

* * * Paper 1, Due 3/3, in lecture * * *

3/5        Michael Mulkay, "Norms and Ideology" (1976) in Michael Mulkay, Sociology of Science: A Sociological Pilgrimage (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991).

3/10      Thomas Gieryn, "Boundary-Work and the Demarcation of Science from Non-Science: Strains and Interests in Professional Ideologies of Scientists," American Sociological Review, v 48 (1983). e-reserve

Part IV: Science, Expertise, and the Wider World

Scientific Writing  

3/12      Bruno Latour, "Literature" in Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society (Cambridge. MA: Harvard University Press, 1987), Ch 1.

Peer Review  

3/24      Lawrence Altman, "The Myth of 'Passing Peer Review,'" Thomas Stossel, "Beyond Rejection: A User's View of Peer Review", Arnold Relman, "The Value of Peer Review", and "Open Discussion" in Council of Biology Editors, ed. Ethics and Policy in Scientific Publication (Bethesda, MD: Council of Biology Editors, Inc., 1990).

3/26      Steven Shapin, "Trust, Honesty, and the Authority of Science" in National Academy of Science, ed. Society's Choices: Social and Ethical Decision Making in Biomedicine (Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1995).

3/31      Chandra Mukerji. "The Collective Construction of Scientific Genius." In Yrjo Engestrom and David Middleton (eds.) Cognition and Communication at Work. (Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press, 1996).

4/2        No reading assignment

* * * Museum Journal, Due 4/4, in section * * *

4/7        Bruce Lewenstein, "Cold Fusion and Hot History." Osiris v7 (1992), pp. 135-163. e-reserve

4/9        Thomas P. Hughes, "The Evolution of Large Technological Systems," in Wiebe Bijker, Thomas, Hughes, and Trevor Pinch, eds., The Social Construction of Technological Systems, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987).

            Paul A. David, "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY." http://f.staff.umke.edu/fkfc.QWERTY.html

4/14      Donald MacKenzie, "Missile Accuracy: A Case Study in the Social Processes of Technological Change" in Wiebe Bijker, Thomas, Hughes, and Trevor Pinch, eds., The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987).

* * * Paper 2, Due 4/14, in lecture* * *

4/16      Sheila Jasanoff, "Civilization and Madness: The Great BSE Scare of 1996," Public Understanding of Science v6 (1997). e-reserve

4/21      National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators.

            National Science Foundation, mission statement.

            Center for Science, Policy, & Outcomes, Full Text of Twenty-Year Vision Statement. http://www.cspo.org/whoweare/

4/23      Sheila Jasanoff, "The Law's Construction of Expertise" in Science at the Bar: Law, Science, and Technology in America, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995) Ch 3.

4/28      Steven Epstein, "The Construction of Lay Expertise: AIDS Activism and the Forging of Credibility in the Reform of Clinical Trials", Science, Technology, and Human Values v20 n4 (1995). e-reserve

Part V: Conclusion

Summing Up  

4/30      No reading assignment.

* * * Final Exam - Take home, Due May 13 * * *

Regular attendance with readings prepared is required at lectures and section. A quiz will be given in lecture on the indicated day.

Papers are due at the beginning of lecture on the indicated day. Late papers will be marked down a half grade per day (e.g., B+ = B). No exceptions. If you need to be away on the due date, then you must arrange to turn in your paper early.

Each student in this course is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit must be the student's own work. Full citations are expected for all quoted and paraphrased material, regardless of source. All sources of ideas must be properly cited.

Professor Stephen Hilgartner
304 Rockefeller
Thursday, 2:30-4:30
shh6@cornell.edu

Teaching Assistants:

Dave Caruso
131 Rockefeller
Tuesday, 12:00-2:00
djc52@cornell.edu

Nab Sharif
131 Rockefeller
Wednesday, 12:15-2:15
djc52@cornell.edu