Innovation in Science and Organizational Renewal: Historical and Sociological Perspectives

by Thomas Heinze (Editor), Richard Mïnch (Editor)

Overview

This book looks at the types of new research organizations that drive scientific innovation and how ground-breaking science transforms research fields and their organization. Based on historical case studies and comparative empirical data, the book presents new and thought-provoking evidence that improves our knowledge and understanding about how new research fields are formed and how research organizations adapt to breakthroughs in science. While the book is firmly based in science history, it discusses more general sociological and policy propositions regarding scientific innovations and organizational change. The volume brings together leading scholars both from the United States and Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137594198
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	07/12/2016
Series:	Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology
Edition description:	1st ed. 2016
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Thomas Heinze is Professor and Chair at the Institute of Sociology at Wuppertal University, Germany. His research interests include scientific creativity and research breakthroughs, governance of research organizations, research evaluation, theories of institutional change, and organizational renewal. His publications have appeared in Research Policy, Economy and Society, Science and Public Policy, Scientometrics, Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, and Zeitschrift für Soziologie.

Richard Münch is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Bamberg, Germany, and Senior Professor of Social Theory and Comparative Macrosociology at Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen, Germany. He is a member of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. Among his recent publications is Academic Capitalism: Universities in the Global Struggle for Excellence (2014).

Table of Contents

Introduction Institutional Conditions for Progress and Renewal in Science.-. Chapter 1 Fabricating an Organizational Field for Research: US Academic Microfabrication Facilities in the 1970s and 1980s Cyrus C.M. Mody, Maastricht University.- .Chapter 2 From Salomon’s House to Synthesis Centers Edward J. Hackett, Arizona State University, Tempe and John N. Parker, Arizona State University, Tempe.- .Chapter 3 The Seventh Solvay Conference: Nuclear Physics, Intellectual Migration, and Institutional Influence Roger H. Stuewer, University of Minnesota.- .Chapter 4 “Preservation of the Laboratory is not a Mission.” Gradual Organizational Renewal in National Laboratories in Germany and the United States Olof Hallonsten, Lund University, Sweden and Thomas Heinze, University of Wuppertal, Germany.- .Chapter 5 Institutional Context and Growth of New Research Fields. Comparison between State Universities in Germany and the United States Arlette Jappe, University of Wuppertal and Thomas Heinze, University of Wuppertal.- .Chapter 6 Organizing space: Dutch space science between astronomy, industry and the government David Baneke, Utrecht University.- .Chapter 7 “We will learn more about the Earth by leaving it than by remaining on it.” NASA and the Forming of an Earth Science Discipline in the 1960s Roger D. Launius, National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C.-.Chapter 8 Interdisciplinary Research and Transformative Research as Facets of National Science Policy Irwin Feller, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This fascinating collection of studies traces the ways in which investments and innovations in scientific institutions - from novel organizations, physical facilities and conferences to new forms of collaboration, competition, and careers - co-evolve with and shape the emergence of ideas, technologies, and ultimately scientific advance.” (James E. Evans, Professor of Sociology and Director of Knowledge Lab, University of Chicago, USA)

“Finally, a book in the vein of the seminal work of Joseph Ben-David, a book that extends and revives the understanding of the dynamics of scientific production! Brilliant in-depth case studies of various research institutions, covering a range of countries over the 20st century, mix historical and sociological perspectives while convincingly demonstrating the crucial role of research organizations design in the production of innovative and interdisciplinary science. Labs are not virtual: they have structures, they define norms and the way the latter are set and work has to be taken into account if one wants to grasp what kinds of scientific results they will enable.” (Christine Musselin, Vice-President for Research at SciencesPo, France)