In this Book
- Thing Knowledge: A Philosophy of Scientific Instruments
- Book
- 2004
- Published by: University of California Press
summary
Western philosophers have traditionally concentrated on theory as the means for expressing knowledge about a variety of phenomena. This absorbing book challenges this fundamental notion by showing how objects themselves, specifically scientific instruments, can express knowledge. As he considers numerous intriguing examples, Davis Baird gives us the tools to "read" the material products of science and technology and to understand their place in culture. Making a provocative and original challenge to our conception of knowledge itself, Thing Knowledge demands that we take a new look at theories of science and technology, knowledge, progress, and change. Baird considers a wide range of instruments, including Faraday's first electric motor, eighteenth-century mechanical models of the solar system, the cyclotron, various instruments developed by analytical chemists between 1930 and 1960, spectrometers, and more.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. 2-9
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- pp. xi-xiv
- 1. Instrument Epistemology
- pp. 1-20
- 2. Models: Representing Things
- pp. 21-40
- 3. Working Knowledge
- pp. 41-66
- 4. Encapsulating Knowledge
- pp. 67-88
- 5. The Instrumentation Revolution
- pp. 89-112
- 6. Thing Knowledge
- pp. 113-144
- 7. The Thing-y-ness of Things
- pp. 145-169
- 8. Between Technology and Science
- pp. 170-188
- 9. Instrumental Objectivity
- pp. 189-210
- 10. The Gift
- pp. 211-238
- References
- pp. 239-260
Additional Information
ISBN
9780520928206
Related ISBN(s)
9780520232495
MARC Record
OCLC
56081361
Pages
294
Launched on MUSE
2014-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No