The Right Tools for the Job: At Work in Twentieth-Century Life Sciences

摘要: This volume examines scientific practice through studies of research tools in an array 20th-century life sciences. The contributors draw upon and extend the multidisciplinary perspectives current science to understand processes which researchers constructed right - and, some cases, wrong for job. articles portray crafting or accessing specific materials, techniques, instruments, models, funds work arrangements involved doing work. They demonstrate historical local contingencies problem construction solving by highlighting articulation between jobs. Indeed, very "rightness" is contingently constructed, maintained, lost, refashioned. cases examined include evolutionary biology laboratory systems, plasmid prep procedure molecular biology, models human ecology African pastoralists, micromanometer metabolic studies, genetics role played Planaria corn, quantitative data field taxidermy natural history, technical standardization bacteriology, discipline immunology as tool stabilizing conceptual definitions field.