Thing knowledge : a philosophy of scientific instruments / Davis Baird.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baird, Davis.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scientific apparatus and instruments.

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Science--Technological innovations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (297 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Philosophy of scientific instruments

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Instrument epistemology

Models : representing things

Working knowledge

Encapsulating knowledge

Instrumentation revolution

Thing knowledge

The thing-y-ness of things

Between technology and science

Instrumental objectivity

The gift.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-259) and index.

ISBN:

9786612356681

9780520928206

0520928202

9781282356689

1282356682

9781597349505

159734950X

OCLC:

70754723