Science, Technology and Society

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About this book

Science, Technology and Society: An Introduction provides students with an accessible overview of the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). The discipline breaks down traditional conceptions of knowledge as universal, neutral and ahistorical, and takes a more critical approach to science and technology as social embedded phenomena. This comprehensive textbook makes use of unique examples and case studies to illustrate theoretical debates and concepts. In addition, the reader acquires a unique vision of contemporary issues (such as the power of algorithms, the mystification of fake news, the role of experts within the decision-making process, for example). Each chapter incorporates pedagogically rich features, including interactive discussion points to be used individually or in class as prompts for debate.

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Keywords

• science and technology studies
• STS
• History of Science
• science communication
• neopositivism
• reductionism
• society in science
• sociology of science
• science, technology and gender
• Philosophy of Science
• digital societies
• science technology and gender

Table of contents (15 chapters)

Front Matter

Introduction: Why Do We Need to Rethink Science?

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

From the Philosophy of Science to the Social Studies of Science

Front Matter

Gnoseology: The Foundations of Human Knowledge

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Epistemology: The Foundations of Scientific Knowledge

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Society in Science

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

The Advent of the Studies of Science and of Technology

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Main Themes in STS

Front Matter

The Boundaries of Science

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Science Behind the Scenes

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Scientists, Experts and Public Opinion

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Science and Technology: Two Sides of the Same Coin

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Science, Technology and Gender

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Contemporary Fields of Inquiry

Front Matter

Environment

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Digital Societies

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Medicine and Biotechnologies

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Five Challenges for the Future

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Conclusion

• Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli

Back Matter

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Philosophy, University of Milano, Milano, Italy

Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

About the authors

​Giampietro Gobo is Professor of Sociology of Science and Methodology of Social Research at the University of Milan, Italy, where his research focuses on scientific controversies of health issues, particularly on immunization policies. His books include Doing Ethnography (2008), Qualitative Research Practice (co-edited with C. Seale, J. F. Gubrium and D. Silverman, 2004), Constructing Survey Data: An Interactional Approach (with S. Mauceri, 2014), Merged Methods: A Rationale for Full Integration (with N. Fielding, G. La Rocca and W. van der Vaart, 2022).

Valentina Marcheselli is a post-doc research fellow at the Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Italy. Her research interests include the social construction of science and technology; the social dynamics of interaction and coordination in interdisciplinary contexts; cognition and embodiment in the fields of astrobiology and planetary science.

Bibliographic Information

• Book Title : Science, Technology and Society
• Book Subtitle : An Introduction
• Authors : Giampietro Gobo, Valentina Marcheselli
• DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08306-8
• Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan Cham
• eBook Packages : Social Sciences , Social Sciences (R0)
• Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
• Softcover ISBN : 978-3-031-08305-1 Published: 10 January 2023
• eBook ISBN : 978-3-031-08306-8 Published: 09 January 2023
• Edition Number : 1
• Number of Pages : XVII, 324
• Number of Illustrations : 13 b/w illustrations, 13 illustrations in colour
• Topics : Sociology, general , Human Geography , Anthropology , History of Science , Philosophy of Science , Science and Technology Studies