Practical Collision (Time, Force, and Science)

Author: [US] Pickering
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Publishing Time: Not available
Features: This is a highly richly endowed work contributed by a highly creative author in the cultural research field of science. It offers a completely new understanding of the production of scientific knowledge, scientific practice, mathematical practice, and engineering practice. In scientific practice, Andrew Pickering combines various factors such as social, technical, conceptual, and metaphysical elements. He describes science as a field of infinite open-ended interactions where machines, instruments, facts, theories, human-constrained practices, and social relationships intertwine, collide, and intersect, which he calls "the clash of practices." The core of several extended case studies in the book is to demonstrate how the concept of "clash" has developed our understanding of the past and present of scientific practice. Pickering specifically discusses the construction of bubble chambers in the field of physics, the pursuit of quarks, the construction of quaternions in the field of mathematics, and the introduction of numerical control machines in industrial production, emphasizing the mutual shaping of human power, material power, and social power under certain conditions. The core of these studies is to illustrate the fundamental aspects of scientific practice—such as the development of experimental instruments, the production of facts, the creation of theories, and the interconnections between machines and social organizations. The Clash of Practices is a continuation of Pickering's influential work Constructing Quarks, challenging existing ideas about scientific practice, the role of scientists, and the nature of scientific truth. For anyone interested in deepening their understanding of the interrelationships between science, technology, and society, The Clash of Practices is a useful work; for sociologists, historians, and philosophers of science, it is also a fundamental reading.