Science In Society

Science/Technoscience has moved to center stage in debates over change, power and justice in twenty-first century societies. This text provides a general framework for understanding, combining and applying the rich range of approaches that exist within sociology about science: in particular, the role (and limitations) of science in generating knowledge, and the relationship between scientific knowledge and social progress. Drawing on case studies such as the genetics and computing "revolutions," this is a clear, even-handed and comprehensive introduction to the field.

In this introduction to the sociology of science, David (sociology, U. of Plymouth, UK) suggests that his field is fundamentally concerned with the questions of whether scientific knowledge can claim to be universal knowledge and whether science facilitates human emancipation. His text addresses the way different schools of thought have approached those questions in a variety of contexts, providing explication of the dominant perspectives in the contemporary sociology of scientific knowledge and including discussion of the interests perspective, ethnographic and discursive perspectives, Marxist approaches, and feminist perspectives. In addition, research from each of these traditions is discussed in the fields of medical genetics, genetic accounts of human behavior, and genetically modified foods. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Matthew David is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Plymouth.