Thing Knowledge: A Philosophy of Scientific Instruments (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780520232495)

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.

Author: Davis Baird
ISBN-10: 0520232496
ISBN-13: 9780520232495
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 02/10/2004
Pages: 273
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.24lbs
Size: 9.22h x 6.06w x 0.95d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 09/01/2004 pg. 123