Overview

Bruno Latour was once asked him: Do you believe in reality? This text is an attempt to answer this question. Through case studies of scientists in the Amazon analyzing soil and in Pasteur's lab studying lactic acid, he shows the steps by which physical events become scientific knowlege.

Full Product Details

9780674653351

Table of Contents

Reviews

[ Pandora's Hope ] brims with insight, and is frequently brilliant. It does what one always hopes for, but so rarely finds, in a philosophy book; it shakes assumptions so deeply held that you hardly knew they were there. It takes the world, reshuffles it, and deals it back; the cards are all the same, but the hand is crucially different... Pandora's Hope , and its author, demand serious attention...Latour asks jarring and important questions and proposes jarring and brilliant answers. Kafka once wrote that a good book ought to have the fearsome impact of an ice ax. Pandora's Hope does this. Having finished it, I am bloodied and befuddled. And I can think of no greater compliment for a book, or heartier endorsement. -- Noah J. Efron Boston Book Review

Latour is concerned with making a case for the emerging field of science studies, a discipline that proposes to study science and the scientific process itself on a philosophical and conceptual level. After an introductory chapter in which he lays the groundwork for science studies and its contributions to our knowledge of the nature of reality, Latour then provides a series of case studies showing scientists from various fields in action. In these case studies, which range from an analysis of a field trip by soil scientists in the Amazon to Louis Pasteur's investigations of lactic acid fermentation in yeast, Latour carefully dissects the seen and unseen components of the scientists' activity and thought. Latour's engaging, clear writing style makes a difficult subject much easier to comprehend.--R. K. Harris Choice

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available