Mittelweg 36 | 8-9/2012
Schwerpunkt: Facetten imperialer Herrschaft
Archiv für September 2012
Minerva and the Development of Science (Policy) Studies
Abstract This article analyzes the transformation of Minerva from an intellectual towards a scholarly journal by making use of bibliometric methods. The aim is to provide some empirical
insights that help to understand what properties of th…
Basic Research as a Political Symbol
Abstract The use of the phrase “basic research” as a term used in science policy discussion dates only to about 1920. At the time the
phrase referred to what we today commonly refer to as applied research in support of specific missions…
The Rise and Demise of the International Council for Science Policy Studies (ICSPS) as a Cold War Bridging Organization
Abstract When the journal Minerva was founded in 1962, science and higher educational issues were high on the agenda, lending impetus to the interdisciplinary
field of “Science Studies” qua “Science Policy Studies.” As government ex…
The Congress for Cultural Freedom, Minerva, and the Quest for Instituting “Science Studies” in the Age of Cold War
Abstract The Congress for Cultural Freedom is remembered as a paramount example of the “cultural cold wars.” In this paper, I discuss
the ways in which this powerful transnational organization sought to promote “science studies” as …
Revisiting ‘Weinberg’s Choice’: Classic Tensions in the Concept of Scientific Merit
Abstract Alvin Weinberg’s classic and much debated two articles in Minerva, “Criteria for Scientific Choice” (1963) and “Criteria for Scientific Choice II – The Two Cultures” (1964), represent two of the first and most important …
The Pumpkin or the Tiger? Michael Polanyi, Frederick Soddy, and Anticipating Emerging Technologies
Abstract Imagine putting together a jigsaw puzzle that works like the board game in the movie “Jumanji”: When you finish, whatever
the puzzle portrays becomes real. The children playing “Jumanji” learn to prepare for the reality tha…
Wie die Mikroben nach Warschau kamen
Abstract The pathogenic microbe came to be a widely acknowledged “scientific fact” by the end of the 19th century. Taking the transfer
of bacteriological knowledge to Warsaw as an example, this article contributes to understanding the q…
Le Monde diplomatique (Oslo) | 8/2012
Depresjonens by [Solitude and the city]
Civil Inattention in Public Places: Normalising Unusual Events through Mobile and Embodied Practices
This article builds on GOFFMAN’s work to study how pedestrians display their orientation to unusual events in public places. It focuses on the mobile and embodied conduct of those passing a smartmob event in which a performing group „froze“ in a busy t…