Memory Practices in the Sciences

Geoffrey C Bowker

35 ratings by Goodreads

Language: English

Published by MIT Press Ltd, 2008

0262524899 / 9780262524896

  • Softcover
  • Used
See all details

Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books (was SecondSale)

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since December 20, 2007

Softcover

Condition: Used - Good

£ 8.49

 Free Shipping 
Ships within U.S.A.

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket
Free 30-day returns

Item description from seller

How the way we hold knowledge about the past-in books, in file folders, in databases-affects the kind of stories we tell about the past. The way we record knowledge, and the web of technical, formal, and social practices that surrounds it, inevitably affects the knowledge that we record. The ways we hold knowledge about the past-in handwritten manuscripts, in printed books, in file folders, in databases-shape the kind of stories we tell about that past. In this lively and erudite look at the relation of our information infrastructures to our information, Geoffrey Bowker examines how, over the past two hundred years, information technology has converged with the nature and production of scientific knowledge. His story weaves a path between the social and political work of creating an explicit, indexical memory for science-the making of infrastructures-and the variety of ways we continually reconfigure, lose, and regain the past. At a time when memory is so cheap and its recording is so protean, Bowker reminds us of the centrality of what and how we choose to forget. In Memory Practices in the Sciences he looks at three "memory epochs" of the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries and their particular reconstructions and reconfigurations of scientific knowledge. The nineteenth century's central science, geology, mapped both the social and the natural world into a single time package (despite apparent discontinuities), as, in a different way, did mid-twentieth-century cybernetics. Both, Bowker argues, packaged time in ways indexed by their information technologies to permit traffic between the social and natural worlds. Today's sciences of biodiversity, meanwhile, "database the world" in a way that excludes certain spaces, entities, and times. We use the tools of the present to look at the past, says Bowker; we project onto nature our modes of organizing our own affairs.…

Seller Inventory # CIN0262524899G

Title
Memory Practices in the Sciences
Author
Geoffrey C Bowker
Publisher
MIT Press Ltd
Publication year
2008
Condition
Good
Binding
Paperback
Language
English
ISBN 10
0262524899
ISBN 13
9780262524896

World of Books (was SecondSale)

Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since December 20, 2007

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Item4 to 12 business days3 to 6 business days
First item£ 0.00£ 8.22
Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay

Store description

Founded in 2002, World of Books is a leading online destination for buying and selling both preloved and new books, committed to making sustainable reading accessible to all. With a mission to help people read more and waste less, World of Books offers a huge range of affordable, high-quality books — giving both new and preloved titles a second life. The company also operates World of Books – Sell Your Books, an easy-to-use platform that allows customers to trade in unwanted books for cash, helping to keep books in circulation while promoting sustainability. As a Certified B Corp, World of Books is driven by a vision to become the world’s largest and most sustainable dedicated online bookstore. The company measures its success through the positive environmental impact it creates, the value it provides to customers, and its ability to operate profitably while supporting its sustainable mission …

Seller's business information

SBYB, Inc.

900 Knell Rd
Montgomery, IL U.S.A. 60538