Indeed, I would urge you all to take a look at Mitroff's
book,
"The Subjective Side of Science: A Philosophical
Inquiry into
the Psychology of the Apollo Moon Scientists"
(Elsevier, 1974),
which is a wide-ranging critique of the standard idealized
model
of scientific inquiry. It's available through Amazon.
Sandy Thatcher
Penn State Press
>Robert Merton's norms of science (Universalism,
Communality,
>Disinterestedness, and Organized Scepticism) are alive
and well in
>scientific communities and should not be written off as
ignoring
>scholarly behavior, as per Michael Mabe's response. A
further
>reading of Merton's later works describe the personal
nature of
>science and the conflicts between impersonal norms
(e.g.
>universalism) with personal norms (e.g. secrecy). Ian
Mitroff puts
>these norms and counter-norms together in a wonderful
piece that
>interviews lunar scientists during the course of the
Apollo
>missions. Its a must-read for anyone studying the
sociology of
>science (including scientometrics) and helps place
scientific
>communication in perspective.
>
>"For if science were also exclusively founded on
the norms of
>disinterestedness, universalism, and community, I doubt
science
>could have arisen as we know it. The point is that each
norm is
>restrained and if any were unrestrained, science would
probably
>collapse." (p.593)
>
>Mitroff, I. I. (1974). Norms and Counter-Norms in a
Select Group of
>the Apollo Moon Scientists: A Case Study of the
Ambivalence of
>Scientists. American Sociological Review, 39, 579-595.
>
>--Phil Davis
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