Pasteur's Quadrant

Pasteur's Quadrant
Author: Donald E. Stokes
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2011-03-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780815719076

Over fifty years ago, Vannevar Bush released his enormously influential report, Science, the Endless Frontier, which asserted a dichotomy between basic and applied science. This view was at the core of the compact between government and science that led to the golden age of scientific research after World War II—a compact that is currently under severe stress. In this book, Donald Stokes challenges Bush's view and maintains that we can only rebuild the relationship between government and the scientific community when we understand what is wrong with that view. Stokes begins with an analysis of the goals of understanding and use in scientific research. He recasts the widely accepted view of the tension between understanding and use, citing as a model case the fundamental yet use-inspired studies by which Louis Pasteur laid the foundations of microbiology a century ago. Pasteur worked in the era of the "second industrial revolution," when the relationship between basic science and technological change assumed its modern form. Over subsequent decades, technology has been increasingly science-based. But science has been increasingly technology-based--with the choice of problems and the conduct of research often inspired by societal needs. An example is the work of the quantum-effects physicists who are probing the phenomena revealed by the miniaturization of semiconductors from the time of the transistor's discovery after World War II. On this revised, interactive view of science and technology, Stokes builds a convincing case that by recognizing the importance of use-inspired basic research we can frame a new compact between science and government. His conclusions have major implications for both the scientific and policy communities and will be of great interest to those in the broader public who are troubled by the current role of basic science in American democracy.

Science, the Endless Frontier

Science, the Endless Frontier
Author: Vannevar Bush
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 069120165X

The classic case for why government must support science—with a new essay by physicist and former congressman Rush Holt on what democracy needs from science today Science, the Endless Frontier is recognized as the landmark argument for the essential role of science in society and government’s responsibility to support scientific endeavors. First issued when Vannevar Bush was the director of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development during the Second World War, this classic remains vital in making the case that scientific progress is necessary to a nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Bush’s vision set the course for US science policy for more than half a century, building the world’s most productive scientific enterprise. Today, amid a changing funding landscape and challenges to science’s very credibility, Science, the Endless Frontier resonates as a powerful reminder that scientific progress and public well-being alike depend on the successful symbiosis between science and government. This timely new edition presents this iconic text alongside a new companion essay from scientist and former congressman Rush Holt, who offers a brief introduction and consideration of what society needs most from science now. Reflecting on the report’s legacy and relevance along with its limitations, Holt contends that the public’s ability to cope with today’s issues—such as public health, the changing climate and environment, and challenging technologies in modern society—requires a more capacious understanding of what science can contribute. Holt considers how scientists should think of their obligation to society and what the public should demand from science, and he calls for a renewed understanding of science’s value for democracy and society at large. A touchstone for concerned citizens, scientists, and policymakers, Science, the Endless Frontier endures as a passionate articulation of the power and potential of science.

Science on a Mission

Science on a Mission
Author: Naomi Oreskes
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 749
Release: 2021-04-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 022673241X

A vivid portrait of how Naval oversight shaped American oceanography, revealing what difference it makes who pays for science. What difference does it make who pays for science? Some might say none. If scientists seek to discover fundamental truths about the world, and they do so in an objective manner using well-established methods, then how could it matter who’s footing the bill? History, however, suggests otherwise. In science, as elsewhere, money is power. Tracing the recent history of oceanography, Naomi Oreskes discloses dramatic changes in American ocean science since the Cold War, uncovering how and why it changed. Much of it has to do with who pays. After World War II, the US military turned to a new, uncharted theater of warfare: the deep sea. The earth sciences—particularly physical oceanography and marine geophysics—became essential to the US Navy, which poured unprecedented money and logistical support into their study. Science on a Mission brings to light how this influx of military funding was both enabling and constricting: it resulted in the creation of important domains of knowledge but also significant, lasting, and consequential domains of ignorance. As Oreskes delves into the role of patronage in the history of science, what emerges is a vivid portrait of how naval oversight transformed what we know about the sea. It is a detailed, sweeping history that illuminates the ways funding shapes the subject, scope, and tenor of scientific work, and it raises profound questions about the purpose and character of American science. What difference does it make who pays? The short answer is: a lot.

The Ghost in the Universe

The Ghost in the Universe
Author: Taner Edis
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2009-12-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1615923306

Emphasizing the results of natural science, physicist Taner Edis takes a fresh look at an age-old question: Is there a God or a spiritual reality beyond nature?

The Science of Science Policy

The Science of Science Policy
Author: Julia I. Lane
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 658
Release: 2011-03-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0804781605

Basic scientific research and technological development have had an enormous impact on innovation, economic growth, and social well-being. Yet science policy debates have long been dominated by advocates for particular scientific fields or missions. In the absence of a deeper understanding of the changing framework in which innovation occurs, policymakers cannot predict how best to make and manage investments to exploit our most promising and important opportunities. Since 2005, a science of science policy has developed rapidly in response to policymakers' increased demands for better tools and the social sciences' capacity to provide them. The Science of Science Policy: A Handbook brings together some of the best and brightest minds working in science policy to explore the foundations of an evidence-based platform for the field. The contributions in this book provide an overview of the current state of the science of science policy from three angles: theoretical, empirical, and policy in practice. They offer perspectives from the broader social science, behavioral science, and policy communities on the fascinating challenges and prospects in this evolving arena. Drawing on domestic and international experiences, the text delivers insights about the critical questions that create a demand for a science of science policy.

Discipline-Based Education Research

Discipline-Based Education Research
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2012-08-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309254140

The National Science Foundation funded a synthesis study on the status, contributions, and future direction of discipline-based education research (DBER) in physics, biological sciences, geosciences, and chemistry. DBER combines knowledge of teaching and learning with deep knowledge of discipline-specific science content. It describes the discipline-specific difficulties learners face and the specialized intellectual and instructional resources that can facilitate student understanding. Discipline-Based Education Research is based on a 30-month study built on two workshops held in 2008 to explore evidence on promising practices in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This book asks questions that are essential to advancing DBER and broadening its impact on undergraduate science teaching and learning. The book provides empirical research on undergraduate teaching and learning in the sciences, explores the extent to which this research currently influences undergraduate instruction, and identifies the intellectual and material resources required to further develop DBER. Discipline-Based Education Research provides guidance for future DBER research. In addition, the findings and recommendations of this report may invite, if not assist, post-secondary institutions to increase interest and research activity in DBER and improve its quality and usefulness across all natural science disciples, as well as guide instruction and assessment across natural science courses to improve student learning. The book brings greater focus to issues of student attrition in the natural sciences that are related to the quality of instruction. Discipline-Based Education Research will be of interest to educators, policy makers, researchers, scholars, decision makers in universities, government agencies, curriculum developers, research sponsors, and education advocacy groups.

A Companion to the History of Science

A Companion to the History of Science
Author: Bernard Lightman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 629
Release: 2019-11-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119121140

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the History of Science is a single volume companion that discusses the history of science as it is done today, providing a survey of the debates and issues that dominate current scholarly discussion, with contributions from leading international scholars. Provides a single-volume overview of current scholarship in the history of science edited by one of the leading figures in the field Features forty essays by leading international scholars providing an overview of the key debates and developments in the history of science Reflects the shift towards deeper historical contextualization within the field Helps communicate and integrate perspectives from the history of science with other areas of historical inquiry Includes discussion of non-Western themes which are integrated throughout the chapters Divided into four sections based on key analytic categories that reflect new approaches in the field

Literacy, Media, Technology

Literacy, Media, Technology
Author: Becky Parry
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2016-12-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1474258018

Literacy, Media, Technology considers the continued significance of popular culture forms such as postcards, film, television, games, virtual worlds and social media for educators. Following multiple pathways through technological innovation, the contributors reflect on the way in which digital and portable devices lead to new and emerging forms of reading, participating and creating. Rejecting linear conceptualisations of progression, they explore how time is not linear as technological advances are experienced in multiple ways linked to different personal, social, political and economic trajectories. The contributors describe a range of practices from formal and informal education spaces and interrogate some of the continuities and discontinuities associated with literacy, media and technology at a time when rapidly evolving communicative practices often meet intransigence in educational systems. The chapters adopt diverse forms: historical perspectives, personal story and reflection, project reports, document analysis, critical reviews of resources, ethnographic accounts, and analyses of meaning-making within and beyond educational institutions. Together, they provide multiple insights into the diverse and fluid relationships between literacy, media, technology, and everyday life, and the many ways in which these relationships are significant to educational research and practice.

Useful Research

Useful Research
Author: Susan Albers Mohrman
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 16
Release: 2011-04-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1605096024

Features a who's who of leading management scholars Takes a stand on a major controversy in academia: should organizational research aspire to be relevant to practitioners? A sequel to the seminal book, Doing Research That is Useful for Theory and Practice, also edited by Ed Lawler, Susan Mohrman, and Associates For decades there has been an ongoing, at times heated, debate over how relevant to real-world organizational concerns academic organizational research should be. The contributors to this book argue that in order to keep organizational research relevant to both theory and practice, research must deviate from the orthodoxy of traditional positivistic research. The true test of whether knowledge is useful to practice is not whether it is “theoretically” impactful but whether it is theoretically impactful and results in improved organizational effectiveness. The contributing authors were selected for their demonstrated ability to conduct useful research and their distinguished academic careers. Part I of the book features active scholars who describe the choices they make and the tactics they employ to ensure that their work advances both theory and practice. In part II, four highly respected researchers reflect on how they approached their careers so that they could have a broad impact on practice and still maintain academic rigor. Part III describes pathways to bring academic knowledge to practice—working with consultancies, executive PhD programs, OD specialists, and professional associations, as well as framing academic concepts in ways that are attention-grabbing, memorable, and credible to practitioners. Part IV looks at institutional constraints and enablers: the prospects for useful research in traditional academic settings like business schools, peer-reviewed journals, and the Academy of Management. Finally, part V sums up the themes of the book and the challenges and opportunities facing researchers who aspire to do research that advances both theory and practice. Contributors: Jean Bartunek, Michael Beer, George Benson, John Boudreau, Wayne Cascio, Thomas Cummings, Amy Edmondson, Lynda Gratton, J. Richard Hackman, Gary Latham, Phillip Mirvis, Allan M. Mohrman, David Nadler, James O’Toole, C. K. Prahalad, Denise Rousseau, Sara Rynes, Edgar Schein, Ramakrishnan V. Tenkasi, Michael Tushman, Andrew Van de Ven, Ruth Wageman, Ian Ziskin

Unraveling Environmental Disasters

Unraveling Environmental Disasters
Author: Daniel A. Vallero
Publisher: Newnes
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2012-11-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0123970261

Unraveling Environmental Disasters covers the major environmental threats facing our world, focusing on rigorous scientific investigations to better understand why the disasters occurred. Two prominent scientists, physical chemist Trevor Letcher and environmental engineer Daniel Vallero, look at natural and human-induced disasters to analyze ways that they could have been prevented and offer predictions on possible future disasters based upon scientific evidence. This book: Considers the societal impact on environmental disasters Describes concisely why these disasters occurred, with understandable explanations of the underlying scientific principles Applies "failure analysis" to recent environmental catastrophes, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Explains how to minimize the risk of potential disasters similar to those of the past