Making Natural Knowledge: Constructivism and the History of Science, with a new Preface

Making Natural Knowledge: Constructivism and the History of Science, with a new Preface by Golinski, Jan. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780226302317.

Arguably the best available introduction to constructivism, a research paradigm that has dominated the history of science for the past forty years, Making Natural Knowledge reflects on the importance of this theory, tells the history of its rise to prominence, and traces its most important tensions. Viewing scientific knowledge as a product of human culture, Jan Golinski challenges the traditional trajectory of the history of science as steady and autonomous progress. In exploring topics such as the social identity of the scientist, the significance of places where science is practiced, and the roles played by language, instruments, and images, Making Natural Knowledge sheds new light on the relations between science and other cultural domains. "A standard introduction to historically minded scholars interested in the constructivist programme. In fact, it has been called the constructivists bible in many a conference corridor."—Matthew Eddy, British Journal for the History of Science