Investigative pathways : patterns and stages in the careers of experimental scientists / Frederic Lawrence Holmes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holmes, Frederic Lawrence.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Creative ability in science.

Discoveries in science.

Physical Description:

xxii, 225 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2004]

Summary:

This fascinating book is an investigation of scientific creativity. Following the research pathways of outstanding scientists over the past three centuries, it finds common features in their careers and their landmark discoveries and sheds light on the nature of long-term experimental research. Frederic Lawrence Holmes begins by discussing various approaches to the historical study of scientific practice. He then explains three kinds of analysis of the individual scientific life: broad-scale, which examines the phases of a scientist's career -- apprenticeship, mastery, distinction, and maturity -- over a lifetime; middle-scale, which explores the episodes within such a career; and fine-scale, which scrutinizes laboratory notebooks and other data to focus on the daily interplay between thought and operation. Using these analyses, Holmes presents rich examples from his studies of six preeminent scientists: Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, Claude Bernard, Hans Krebs, Matthew Meselson, Franklin Stahl, and Seymour Benzer. The similar themes that he finds in their work and careers lead him to valuable insights into enduring issues and problems in understanding the scientific process. These include how "Eureka" moments can occur, how failure and disappointment in research are part of a process that is continually adjusted and transformed, how scientists respond to unpredicted events, and how generalizations about scientific creativity are often wrong.

Contents:

Part 1 Interpretations of Scientific Discovery and Creativity

1 Investigation, Discovery, and Experimental Practice 3

2 The Three Scales of the Investigative Pathway and the Materials for Their Reconstruction 11

Part 2 Phases in the Lifetime Career

3 Apprenticeship and the Achievement of Independence 27

4 Mastery of a Domain 43

5 Is Distinction Achieved or Conferred? 56

6 Maturity and the Dilemmas of the Aging Scientist 72

Part 3 Episodic Rhythms within an Investigative Life

7 Complicating the Pathway Metaphor 93

8 Complicating the Episodic Rhythms 103

9 Predictability and Unpredictability 122

Part 4 The Fine Structure of Experimental Investigation

10 The Interplay between Thought and Operation 149

11 Flashes of Insight and Moments of Discovery 171

Conclusion: The Narrative Representation of Investigative Pathways 189

Afterword: F. L. Holmes and the History of Science / Jed Z. Buchwald 193.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-214) and index.

ISBN:

0300100752

OCLC:

52858503