Description
Book SynopsisBrings together case studies and theoretical reflections on the history and epistemology of the life sciences by Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, one of the foremost philosophers of science.
Trade Review“Readers will find that the overarching theme of the text is that scientific knowledge is not simply the result of a series of advances in which one pays forward into the next like a row of falling dominos. It is an emergent property of a nonlinear process involving a complex interplay of history, culture, and the scientific process. Rheinberger’s case studies present science as a productive enterprise with measurable outcomes such as conceptual models, experimental organisms, and instrumentation. . . . Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” - J. A. Hewlett,
Choice“
An Epistemology of the Concrete offers a methodological framework and a set of research exemplars that will shape science studies for years to come.”—
Tim Lenoir, from the foreword
“In this empirical and conceptual tour de force, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger provides an examination of the work of key twentieth-century epistemologists, rigorous historical vignettes of model-organism research, a materialist epistemology of experimental biology, and, consequently, a carefully precise yet broadly illuminating theorization of modes of knowledge production.
An Epistemology of the Concrete is a major contribution not only to the history of science but also to fields such as anthropology, which are turning to epistemological analyses of the life sciences as a key site of inquiry.”—
Kaushik Sunder Rajan, author of
Biocapital: The Constitution of Postgenomic Life“Hans-Jörg Rheinberger has played a prominent role in bringing those strands of thinking together, thus pioneering an integrated approach to the history and the philosophy of science and, most importantly, illuminating several long-standing philosophical debates with profound, creative and scientifically informed insights on the nature of experimental work. Within this wonderful volume, Rheinberger uses his understanding of the history of biology and his experience as a practising experimenter to build a sophisticated epistemology of scientific practice.” -- Sabina Leonelli * International Studies in the Philosophy of Science *
“The reader will learn a great deal from Rheinberger’s essays on the scholars whom he sees as crucial in order to conceive of scientific knowledge as inherently historical, social, and ‘concrete’. The reader will also find an answer to what is historical epistemology today, or at least one version of it, both in theoretical terms and through case studies that show how a historical epistemological perspective enables the epistemologist, historian, and sociologist to read scientific activity.” -- Christina Chimisso * Radical Philosophy *
“Readers will find that the overarching theme of the text is that scientific knowledge is not simply the result of a series of advances in which one pays forward into the next like a row of falling dominos. It is an emergent property of a nonlinear process involving a complex interplay of history, culture, and the scientific process. Rheinberger’s case studies present science as a productive enterprise with measurable outcomes such as conceptual models, experimental organisms, and instrumentation. . . . Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” -- J. A. Hewlett * Choice *
Table of ContentsIllustrations vii
Foreword / Tim Lenoir xi
Prologue 1
Part I. Historical Epistemology
1. Ludwik Fleck, Edmond Husserl: On the Historicity of Scientific Knowledge 13
2. Gaston Bachelard: The Concept of "Phenomenotechnique" 25
3. Georges Canguilhem: Epistemological History 37
Part II. Model Organisms: Studies in the History of Heredity and Reproduction
4. Pisum: Carl Carren's Experiments on Xenia, 1896–99 51
5. Eudorina: Max Hartmann's Experiments on Biological Regulation in Protozoa, 1914–21 82
6. Ephistia: Alfred Kühn's Experimental Design for a Developmental Physiological Genetics, 1924–45 94
7. Tobacco Mosaic Virus: Virus Research at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes for Biochemistry and Biology, 1937–45 128
Part III. Concepts and Instruments: Studies in the History of Molecular Biology
8. The Concept of the Gene: Molecular Biological Perspectives 153
9. The Liquid Scintillation Counter: Traces of Radioactivity 170
10. The Concept of Information 203
Part IV. Epistemic Configurations
11. Intersections 217
12. Preparations 233
13. The Economy of the Scribble 244
Acknowledgments 253
Abbreviations 255
Notes 257
Bibliography 289
Index 321
