Harry Collins
Encyclopedia
Harry Collins is a British professor at the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University
. While at the University of Bath
Professor Collins developed the Bath School approach to the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge
. His best known book is the 1993 The Golem: What Everyone Should Know About Science.
In Changing Order - Replication and Induction in Scientific Practice, Collins outlines a general theory of sociology of science. Drawing from the concepts of "Language Game" and "Forms of Life", derived from the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein
, he seeks an explanation for how scientists follow rules and patterns when performing experiments and scientific practice. Collins' perspective is usually called a relativist position, although this is a strong over-simplification.
Collins is often affiliated with the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge
.
Collins has written for over 30 years on the sociology of gravitational wave physics. His publications in this area include:
"The Seven Sexes: Study in Sociology of a Phenomenon, or Replication of Experiments in Physics" "Son of Seven Sexes: The Social Destruction of a Physical Phenomenon". He has traced the search for gravitational waves, and has shown how scientific data can be subject to interpretative flexibility, and how social or 'non-scientific' means can be sometimes used to close scientific controversies.
In an article in Science as Practice and Culture, Collins and his co-writer Steven Yearley
argue that the Actor-network theory
(ANT) approach is a step backwards towards the positivist and realist
positions held by early theory of science.
More recently, Collins along with Dr Robert Evans, also of Cardiff University, has published works on what they term the "Third Wave of Science Studies" and, in particular, the idea of interactional expertise
. This aims to address questions of legitimacy and extension and public involvement in scientific decision-making. They continue to research and publish on this topic.
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
. While at the University of Bath
University of Bath
The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....
Professor Collins developed the Bath School approach to the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge
Sociology of scientific knowledge
The sociology of scientific knowledge ' is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing "with the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity."...
. His best known book is the 1993 The Golem: What Everyone Should Know About Science.
In Changing Order - Replication and Induction in Scientific Practice, Collins outlines a general theory of sociology of science. Drawing from the concepts of "Language Game" and "Forms of Life", derived from the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
, he seeks an explanation for how scientists follow rules and patterns when performing experiments and scientific practice. Collins' perspective is usually called a relativist position, although this is a strong over-simplification.
Collins is often affiliated with the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge
Sociology of scientific knowledge
The sociology of scientific knowledge ' is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing "with the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity."...
.
Collins has written for over 30 years on the sociology of gravitational wave physics. His publications in this area include:
"The Seven Sexes: Study in Sociology of a Phenomenon, or Replication of Experiments in Physics" "Son of Seven Sexes: The Social Destruction of a Physical Phenomenon". He has traced the search for gravitational waves, and has shown how scientific data can be subject to interpretative flexibility, and how social or 'non-scientific' means can be sometimes used to close scientific controversies.
In an article in Science as Practice and Culture, Collins and his co-writer Steven Yearley
Steven Yearley
Steve Yearley is a British sociologist, Professor of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge at the University of Edinburgh, a post he has . He is currently seconded from the sociology unit to be Director of the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, more often known as the Genomics Forum...
argue that the Actor-network theory
Actor-network theory
Actor–network theory, often abbreviated as ANT, is a distinctive approach to social theory and research which originated in the field of science studies...
(ANT) approach is a step backwards towards the positivist and realist
Scientific realism
Scientific realism is, at the most general level, the view that the world described by science is the real world, as it is, independent of what we might take it to be...
positions held by early theory of science.
More recently, Collins along with Dr Robert Evans, also of Cardiff University, has published works on what they term the "Third Wave of Science Studies" and, in particular, the idea of interactional expertise
Interactional expertise
Interactional expertise is part of a more complex classification of expertise developed by Harry Collins and Robert Evans and first published in Social Studies of Science in June 2002...
. This aims to address questions of legitimacy and extension and public involvement in scientific decision-making. They continue to research and publish on this topic.
Main works
- with Trevor PinchTrevor PinchTrevor J. Pinch is a sociologist and former chair of the Science and Technology Studies department at Cornell University.Pinch has a degree in Physics from the Imperial College London and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Bath...
, The Golem: What Everyone Should Know about Science, Cambridge University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-521-35601-6 - Changing Order. Replication and Induction in Scientific Practice, The University of Chicago Press, 1985.
- with Steven YearleySteven YearleySteve Yearley is a British sociologist, Professor of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge at the University of Edinburgh, a post he has . He is currently seconded from the sociology unit to be Director of the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, more often known as the Genomics Forum...
, "Epistemological Chicken", in Andrew PickeringAndrew PickeringAndrew Pickering is a sociologist, philosopher and historian of science at the University of Exeter. He was a professor of sociology and a director of science and technology studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign until 2007. He holds a doctorate in physics from the University of...
(ed.) Science as Practice and Culture, University of Chicago Press, 1992. - Artificial Experts: Social Knowledge and Intelligent Machines, Cambridge, Mass: MIT press, 1990. Explains the nature and limits of intelligent machines, especially expert systems.
- with Martin KuschMartin KuschMartin Kusch is Professor of philosophy at the University of Vienna. Until 2009, Kusch was Professor of Philosophy and Sociology of science at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University...
, The Shape of Actions: What Humans and Machines Can Do, MIT Press, 1998. - Gravity's Shadow: the search for gravitational waves, University of Chicago Press, 2004.
- with Trevor PinchTrevor PinchTrevor J. Pinch is a sociologist and former chair of the Science and Technology Studies department at Cornell University.Pinch has a degree in Physics from the Imperial College London and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Bath...
, Dr Golem: How to think about medicine, University of Chicago Press, 2005. - with Robert Evans, Rethinking Expertise, University of Chicago Press, 2007.
- Tacit and Explicit Knowledge, University of Chicago Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-226-11380-7
- Gravity's Ghost: Scientific Discovery in the Twenty-first Century, University of Chicago Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-226-11356-2