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.
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.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
List of Illustrations and TablesPreface
1. Instrument Epistemology
2. Models: Representing Things
3. Working Knowledge
4. Encapsulating Knowledge
5. The Instrumentation Revolution
6. Thing Knowledge
7. The Thing-y-ness of Things
8. Between Technology and Science
9. Instrumental Objectivity
10. The Gift
References
Index
Über den Autor
Davis Baird, Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina, is author of Inductive Logic: Inferring the Unknown (1999) and coeditor of Heinrich Hertz: Classical Physicist, Modern Philosopher (1997).
Sprache Englisch ● Format EPUB ● Seiten 296 ● ISBN 9780520928206 ● Dateigröße 2.8 MB ● Verlag University of California Press ● Erscheinungsjahr 2004 ● Ausgabe 1 ● herunterladbar 24 Monate ● Währung EUR ● ID 6513040 ● Kopierschutz Adobe DRM
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