Re-Thinking Science - Knowledge and the Public in an Age of Uncertainty (Paperback)

Re-Thinking Science presents an account of the dynamic relationship between society and science. Despite the mounting evidence of a much closer, interactive relationship between society and science, current debates still center on the need to maintain a "line" demarcating them. The view persists that there is a one-way communication flow from science to society -- with scant attention given to the ways in which society communicates with science. This book argues that changes in society now make such communications both more likely and more numerous. It claims that this reverse communication is transforming science not only in its research practices and the institutions that support it, but also deep in its epistemological core. To explain these changes, the authors have developed an open, dynamic framework for re-thinking science. They conclude that the closer interaction of science and society signals the emergence of a new kind of science: contextualized, or context-sensitive, science. Context-sensitive science is not a static science, but a form of knowledge production that is co-evolving with trends in contemporary society. The co-evolution between society and science requires a more or less complete re-thinking of the basis on which a new social contract between science and society might be constructed. In their discussion, the authors present some of the elements that would comprise this new social contract.