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Science Philosophy & Social Aspects

Deflating Information

From Science Studies to Documentation

by (author) Bernd Frohmann

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2004
Category
Philosophy & Social Aspects, General, Research & Methodology
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802088390
    Publish Date
    Oct 2004
    List Price
    $102.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442673779
    Publish Date
    Oct 2004
    List Price
    $99.00

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Description

Is disseminating information the main purpose of scholarly scientific literature? Recent work in science studies signals a shift of emphasis from conceptual to material sources, from thinking to doing, and from representing the world to intervening in it. Scientific knowledge production is no longer seen as a process of seeking, collecting, organizing, and processing abstract elements, but instead one of assembling the many different material 'bits and pieces' of scientific culture in order to make things work.

In Deflating Information, Bernd Frohmann draws on recent work in the social studies of science, finding the most significant material in the coordination of research work, the stabilization of matters of fact, and the manufacture of objectivity. Arguing for a 'deflationary' account of information, Frohmann challenges the central concept of information studies, thereby laying a foundation for a documentalist approach to emerging issues in the field.

About the author

Bernd Frohmann is an associate professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario.

Bernd Frohmann's profile page