What Does it Mean that PRIMES is in P: Popularization and Distortion Revisited
Social Studies of Science 39 (2):257-288 (2009)
Abstract
In August 2002, three Indian computer scientists published a paper, ‘PRIMES is in P’, online. It presents a ‘deterministic algorithm’ which determines in ‘polynomial time’ if a given number is a prime number. The story was quickly picked up by the general press, and by this means spread through the scientific community of complexity theorists, where it was hailed as a major theoretical breakthrough. This is although scientists regarded the media reports as vulgar popularizations. When the paper was published in a peer-reviewed journal only two years later, the three scientists had already received wide recognition for their accomplishment. Current sociological theory challenges the ability to clearly distinguish on independent epistemic grounds between distorted and non-distorted scientific knowledge. It views the demarcation lines between such forms of presentation as contextual and unstable. In my paper, I challenge this view. By systematically surveying the popular press coverage of the ‘PRIMES is in P’ affair, I argue--against the prevailing new orthodoxy--that distorted simplifications of scientific knowledge are distinguishable from non-distorted simplifications on independent epistemic grounds. I argue that in the ‘PRIMES is in P’ affair, the three scientists could ride on the wave of the general press-distorted coverage of their algorithm, while counting on their colleagues’ ability to distinguish genuine accounts from distorted ones. Thus, their scientific reputation was unharmed. This suggests that the possibility of the existence of independent epistemic standards must be incorporated into the new SSK model of popularization.Author's Profile
My notes
Similar books and articles
Scientific realism: An elaboration and a defence.Howard Sankey - 2001 - Theoria A Journal of Social and Political Theory 98 (98):35-54.
The knowledge content of science and the sociology of scientific knowledge.Loet Leydesdorff - 1992 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 23 (2):241-263.
The Dynamics of Scientific Concepts: The Relevance of Epistemic Aims and Values.Ingo Brigandt - 2012 - In Uljana Feest & Friedrich Steinle (eds.), Scientific Concepts and Investigative Practice. Berlin: de Gruyter. pp. 75–103.
Science in Society: An Introduction to Social Studies of Science.Massimiano Bucchi - 2004 - Routledge.
The possibility of a mathematical sociology of scientific communication.Loet Leydesdorff - 1996 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 27 (2):243-265.
The Poetry of Genetics: On the Pitfalls of Popularizing Science.Anita L. Allen - 2009 - Hypatia 24 (4):247 - 257.
Analytics
Added to PP
2009-08-13
Downloads
49 (#241,000)
6 months
6 (#132,512)
2009-08-13
Downloads
49 (#241,000)
6 months
6 (#132,512)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
Why knowledge is the property of a community and possibly none of its members.Boaz Miller - 2015 - Philosophical Quarterly 65 (260):417-441.
Why Trust Raoult? How Social Indicators Inform the Reputations of Experts.T. Y. Branch, Gloria Origgi & Tiffany Morisseau - 2022 - Social Epistemology 36 (3):299-316.
How to balance Balanced Reporting and Reliable Reporting.Mikkel Gerken - 2020 - Philosophical Studies 177 (10):3117-3142.
The 'Economy of Memory': Publications, Citations, and the Paradox of Effective Research Governance.Peter Woelert - 2013 - Minerva 51 (3):341-362.
Exploring Epistemic Boundaries Between Scientific and Popular Cultures.Marina Levina - 2009 - Spontaneous Generations 3 (1):105-112.
References found in this work
Image and Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics.Peter Galison (ed.) - 1997 - University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
Explaining Science: A Cognitive Approach.Jeffrey S. Poland - 1988 - Philosophical Review 100 (4):653-656.
Defending Science -- Within Reason: Between Scientism and Cynicism.Susan Haack - 2011 - Prometheus Books.