Table of Contents

Introduction: the golem; 1. Edible knowledge: the chemical transfer of memory; 2. Two experiments that 'proved' the theory of relativity; 3. The sun in a test tube: the story of cold fusion; 4. The germs of dissent: Louis Pasteur and the origins of life; 5. A new window on the universe: the non-detection of gravitational radiation; 6. The sex life of the whiptail lizard; 7. Set the controls for the heart of the sun: the strange story of the missing solar neutrinos; Conclusion: putting the golem to work; Afterword; References and further reading; Index.

Promotional Information

Through a series of case studies, Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch debunk the traditional view that science is the straightforward result of competent theorization, observation and experimentation.

Reviews

a --E A very readable account.a -- New Scientist a --E .. it succeeds extraordinarily well in this task of portraying and assessing the real fabric of scientific research, based on the insights of modern scholarship.a -- Bernard Dixon, former editor of New Scientist