Overview

Narrative Science examines the use of narrative in scientific research over the last two centuries. It brings together an international group of scholars who have engaged in intense collaboration to find and develop crucial cases of narrative in science. Motivated and coordinated by the Narrative Science project, funded by the European Research Council, this volume offers integrated and insightful essays examining cases that run the gamut from geology to psychology, chemistry, physics, botany, mathematics, epidemiology, and biological engineering. Taking in shipwrecks, human evolution, military intelligence, and mass extinctions, this landmark study revises our understanding of what science is, and the roles of narrative in scientists' work. This title is also available as Open Access.

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9781009001991

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Reviews

'Through a mosaic of case studies from the natural and social sciences, this remarkable collection investigates the many ways in which scientists use narratives as modes and sites of sense-making, representation, and reasoning. The Narrative Science approach imaginatively reconfigures the relationship between philosophy, narratology and scientific practice, enriching each of these fields of inquiry as a result.' Chiara Ambrosio, University College London 'This rich collection makes a broad-ranging examination of scientific practices, revealing the ubiquitous presence and diverse functions of narratives. An important and illuminating emphasis is on the key role of narrative as a 'technology of sense-making'. This path-breaking volume will have far-reaching implications for science studies, with deep philosophical implications.' Hasok Chang, University of Cambridge 'Narrative Science is an important and original collection of essays which together evidence narrative's crucial epistemic role within science, and demonstrate the many ways in which narrative is involved in, sometimes integral to, the production of scientific knowledge.' Sarah Dillon, University of Cambridge 'Was science ever so austere and self-effacing as its defenders imply by praising it as 'data-driven'? The chapters of this important collection demonstrate the vital role of narrative not just in popular writing on science, but in creative research, pointing the way to a more encompassing historical philosophy of science.' Theodore M. Porter, UCLA 'Narrative Science eloquently parries dismissive, 'just-so' critiques of story-telling in science by demonstrating that scientists past and present have used narrative as a way of thinking: that is, a tool for making sense of the natural, human, and social worlds they study, and for creating new knowledge.' Anne Vila, University of Wisconsin-Madison

'Through a mosaic of case studies from the natural and social sciences, this remarkable collection investigates the many ways in which scientists use narratives as modes and sites of sense-making, representation, and reasoning. The Narrative Science approach imaginatively reconfigures the relationship between philosophy, narratology and scientific practice, enriching each of these fields of inquiry as a result.' Chiara Ambrosio, University College London 'This rich collection makes a broad-ranging examination of scientific practices, revealing the ubiquitous presence and diverse functions of narratives. An important and illuminating emphasis is on the key role of narrative as a 'technology of sense-making'. This path-breaking volume will have far-reaching implications for science studies, with deep philosophical implications.' Hasok Chang, University of Cambridge 'Narrative Science is an important and original collection of essays which together evidence narrative's crucial epistemic role within science, and demonstrate the many ways in which narrative is involved in, sometimes integral to, the production of scientific knowledge.' Sarah Dillon, University of Cambridge 'Was science ever so austere and self-effacing as its defenders imply by praising it as 'data-driven'? The chapters of this important collection demonstrate the vital role of narrative not just in popular writing on science, but in creative research, pointing the way to a more encompassing historical philosophy of science.' Theodore M. Porter, UCLA 'Narrative Science eloquently parries dismissive, 'just-so' critiques of story-telling in science by demonstrating that scientists past and present have used narrative as a way of thinking: that is, a tool for making sense of the natural, human, and social worlds they study, and for creating new knowledge.' Anne Vila, University of Wisconsin-Madison Highly recommended.' A. K. Ackerberg-Hastings, Choice

Author Information

Mary S. Morgan is the Albert O. Hirschman Professor of History and Philosophy of Economics at the London School of Economics. Kim M. Hajek is a postdoctoral researcher on the LSE-based Narrative Science Project, and in 'Scholarly Vices' at the University of Leiden. Dominic J. Berry is Research Fellow on the Narrative Science Project, and the 'Everyday Cyborgs 2.0' project at the University of Birmingham.

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