This book argues that scientific facts are not discovered but are constructed within the social world of the laboratory. Through an anthropological study of Roger Guillemin's lab, the authors demonstrate how scientific statements become accepted as reality because they become too costly to alter. The book analyzes how laboratories produce "texts," such as scientific papers, and treats the culture of the scientist with skepticism.
The work links the sociology of modern sciences with laboratory studies in the history of science. Readers will learn how social processes and the economics of altering established claims contribute to the formation of scientific knowledge, viewing scientific reality as a set of statements that are temporarily fixed.
Key concepts
- Anthropological approach to the culture of the scientist — Treating scientific practice as a subject of anthropological study to understand its cultural aspects.
- Construction of scientific facts — The process by which scientific claims are built and established through social and material practices within a laboratory.
- "Texts" as laboratory output — Scientific papers and other written materials are viewed as products of the social interactions and processes within a lab.
- Statements too expensive to change — Scientific claims that achieve a stable status not due to inherent truth, but because altering them would incur significant social and practical costs.