Review by Choice Review
Fuchs (sociology, University of Virginia) aims to reintroduce a mainstream sociological perspective into the "social studies of science," a field currently dominated by ethnographic methods and a relativist epistemology (see, for example, Science as Practice and Culture, ed. by Andrew Pickering, 1992). Fuchs argues that because social studies practitioners spend much of their time tackling strictly philosophical issues, they have neglected the most striking feature of modern science, its organizational structure, which sociology is in a unique position to explain. Following his mentor, Randall Collins (Conflict Sociology, CH, Jun'75), Fuchs characterizes this structure in terms of mutually dependent workers engaged in well-defined problems. He makes clear that today's natural sciences have more in common with efficiently run big corporations than with the natural sciences of two centuries ago. Fuchs goes so far as to use Charles Perrow's concept of "normal accidents" (which was originally developed to explain the inevitability of mishaps in complex organizations) as a model for understanding scientific innovation. Anyone interested in disciplinary formation should find this book provocative and lucid, though Fuchs does not mince words about the organizational problems he perceives in contemporary sociology and the "hermeneutical" fields. Strongly recommended for all academic libraries. S. Fuller; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
