Basic and Applied Research: The Language of Science Policy in the Twentieth Century: 4 (European Conceptual History, 4) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1785338102 ISBN 13: 9781785338106

Publisher: Berghahn Books, 2018

Synopsis

The distinction between basic and applied research was central to twentieth-century science and policymaking, and if this framework has been contested in recent years, it nonetheless remains ubiquitous in both scientific and public discourse. Employing a transnational, diachronic perspective informed by historical semantics, this volume traces the conceptual history of the basic-applied distinction from the nineteenth century to today, taking stock of European developments alongside comparative case studies from the United States and China. It shows how an older dichotomy of pure and applied science was reconceived in response to rapid scientific progress and then further transformed by the geopolitical circumstances of the postwar era.

About this title

Review:

"This is an important and timely contribution to the conceptual history of science in the twentieth century, with a laudably thorough discussion of methodological and conceptual concerns." - Julian Bauer, European University Association

"Concepts reflect ideologies and policies as much as they shape them, bridging the gap between expectations and reality. This transnational probe into the "basic/applied" rhetoric of science policy discourse is a unique and overdue analysis that will contribute to our understanding of past and present relations among science, innovation and the political contexts in which they develop." - Peter Weingart, Bielefeld University

About the Author:

David Kaldewey is Junior Professor for Science Studies and Sociological Theory at the University of Bonn and leader of the research group "Discovering, Exploring, and Addressing Grand Societal Challenges" funded by Stiftung Mercator. He holds a doctorate in sociology from Bielefeld University. He is the author of Wahrheit und Nutzlichkeit (2013) and various publications dealing with the changing relationship of science and politics.Desiree Schauz is a senior researcher at the Gottingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities and a habilitation candidate at the Technical University of Munich, where she was previously a Dilthey Fellow. She has published widely on the role of concepts in science policy in journals such as Minerva, History of Science (with Benoit Godin), Forum interdisziplinare Begriffsgeschichte, and NTM.

About this edition

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1785338102
• ISBN 13: 9781785338106
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 314
• Editor: Kaldewey David, Schauz Désirée