Road Map

A sektch of things to come.

Generally

One Line

Use Pickering's analytical framework to analyse the Nineteenth century debate over the age of the Earth.

More Lines

Apply an analytical framework developed in the context of Science and Technology Studies to a historical case study. Kelvin's dispute with the geological community of the nineteenth century over the age of the Earth provides a context to apply Pickering's analytical framework of the Mangle of Practice.

Outputs

Expected end-points.

1. Textual

This aspect involves a traditional dissertation in which the analytical framework will be introduced, the historical events described and the episode presented in terms of the analytical critique.

Sub-sections:

• Review of primary and secondary sources.

  • Historical: Kelvin's letters and documents concerning his work and opinions on the age of the Earth. Historical overviews of the dispute and the wider socio-scientific context.

  • Sociological: Pickering's texts on the analytical framework. Examples of existing applications of the framework.

• Application of analysis.

  • Historical critique: Drawing on the historical sources provide an analysis of Agency and Contingency in the dispute.

  • Meta-critique: Considering benefits, limitations or ommisions compared to existing accounts.

Required training:

• Examiniation of primary sources will require knowledge in archivistic practices to engage with primary sources.

2. Gaming

This aspect involves development of a game based on the historical episode which describes the events and foregrounds the analytical themes of The Mangle: Agency and Contingency.

Sub-sections:

• Game development: Research into alternative game designs and adaption of material as game resource with documentation.

• Game deployment: In-field tests with survey of participants.

• Self-criticism: Assessment of success of game as resource for historical education and vehicle for STS promotion.

Required training:

• First, an understanding of the aspects of game development.

• Second, an understanding of ethical issues involved in collecting and publishing survey data.

A third avenue of inquiry exists in parallel to the historical components. This involves developing a critical appraisal scheme for games using the sociological analysis of The Mangle as inspiration. The analytical themes of Agency and Contingency are apt descriptors in gaming environments which package a complex of player (agent), rules/strategy (conceptual context) and luck (contingency). Perhaps The Mangle at Play?

Skeleton of Textual Topics

Conceptual Background

Explanantion of Pickering's Mangle of Practice

• elements of the mangle

  • human and non-human
  • resistance

• contrasts with previous frameworks

  • empiricism: difficulties establishing demarcation by defining unique and ideal (theoretical) practices

    • Inductivism

    • Hypothetico-deductivism

      • Confirmationism
      • Falsificationism

  • normativism: difficulties in using ideal practice as a metric to judge the canon of history

    • Kuhn and the The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

  • actor-network theory:

    • Latour and the language of non-human agents

      There are four things that do not work with actor-network theory; the word actor, the word network, the word theory and the hyphen! Four nails in the coffin. speech

Historical Context

Nineteenth century context

• state of relevant physics:

  • Gravity: ultimate source of all energy

    • collapse of stellar nebula and formation of Solar System

  • Thermodynamics: mechanism to provide signature of age

    • cooling of Earth and Sun as absolute measure of time since planetary formation

• state of relevant geology:

  • Catastrophism: massive (unexpected) events shape formation of Earth's surface

    • Vulcanists: fire is key
    • Neputnists: water is key

  • Uniformitarianism: slow processes over time

    • stratification of rocks as relative measure of Earth's age
    • Hutton and Lyle's deep time

Mangled Analysis

Taking Pickering's Analysis and focussing on:

• Contingency of debate

• Non-local agency

• Forms of resistance

Contingency of debate

Outcome is not determined at outset, changing during practice, i.e. emergent

Tuning of interpretive schemes, apparatus, authorities to decide between possibilities is not determined

Emphasis of free choices of individuals and contingent development of discipline

Outcome of debate is open-ended

• the dispute was all but settled by the end of nineteenth century: biologists had accomodated Kelvin's argument

• discovery of radio-activity re-opened the issue

Non-local agency

Agency is shared between goals/desires/attempts of (human) actors and responses of non-humans

Breakdown of human & non-human elements and interactions

• Humans: Kelvin and his detractors

• Non-human:

  • Formalism: Kelvin's mathematical argument

  • Disciplinary culture of Physics and Geology

Dualism(?)

• at times, from perspective of protagonists, opponents may appear (perform role?) as representatives of non-human culture (i.e. aggregates of humans)

• revolutionary ideas which manange to overcome resistance become inertia providing resistance to further revolution

Iterated developments to debate were choice of actors and with each iteration agency was passed between human and non-human to inspire the next step

• Mangle of free choices of agent with agency of disciplinary culture. How to respond to divergence of result from intended outcomes when the disciplinary machine is applied is ambiguous and emerges in practice.

Forms of Resistance

Multi-layer resistance

• labwork: difficulties for geologists to get accurate values for geological mechanisms, e.g. denudation, salination

• disciplinary: resistance of groups, e.g. physicists, geologists and (eventually) biologists

Several occasions where individuals sought to merge viewpoints but were (successfully) resisted

• Crole, etc

  • ice ages and astronomy