The Tangle of Science: Reliability Beyond Method, Rigour, and Objectivity

Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press (2022)
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Abstract

Science is remarkably reliable. It puts people on the moon, performs laser eye surgery, tells us about ancient civilisations and species, and predicts the future of our climate. What underwrites this reliability? This book argues that the standard answers—the scientific method, rigour, and objectivity—are insufficient for the job. Here we propose a new model of science that places its products front and centre. This is the ‘Tangle of Science’. In this book we show how any reliable piece of science is underpinned by a vast, diverse, and thick network of other scientific products. In doing so we bring back into focus areas of science that have been long neglected, emphasising how every product, from the screws that hold the space shuttle together to ways of measuring the consumer price index to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, work together to support results we can trust.

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Author Profiles

Ann C Thresher
Stanford University
Nancy Cartwright
London School of Economics
Eleonora Montuschi
University of Venice
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Citations of this work

Scientific Progress.I. Niiniluoto - 2012 - In Ed Zalta (ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford, CA: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Truth as Force: A Materialist Picture.Frieder Vogelmann - forthcoming - Social Epistemology.
How can we assess whether to trust collectives of scientists?Elinor Clark - forthcoming - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

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