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Science, Technology, and Society: A Sociological Approach
Science, Technology and A Sociological Approach is a comprehensive guide to the emergent field of science, technology, and society (STS) studies and its implications for today’s culture and society.
167 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 2, 2010
Given that this is supposed to be an introduction into STS, this book sucks.
While the authors are up-front about the fact that they are sociologists, and decry overly dogmatic approaches to society and theorizing, they fail to avoid presenting their pet sociological theories as descriptive of the entire social world. While they offer a decent treatment of religion as a sociological phenomenon, and spend oodles of text clarifying and defending their post-modern insights (making the book seem a bit defensive), they utterly fail to discuss, or even a hint at, most of the rest of the field (while the part of the field left out is rather larger than the part they have discussed).
As a narrative, it's a good, light read, but once you start reading a bit more closely large amounts of their arguments lack justification or even coherence, and are hard to follow in general due to a lack of clarity of their analysis. They seem to think that vaguely referencing sociological phenomena is the way to be a true academic, and especially their discussion of feminism (or deconstructive trends more generally) is terrible. It could not even tell me one way in which masculine thinking biased researchers' theorizing, either by ignoring possible solutions because they weren't "linear" or otherwise.
Do not buy or read this.
While the authors are up-front about the fact that they are sociologists, and decry overly dogmatic approaches to society and theorizing, they fail to avoid presenting their pet sociological theories as descriptive of the entire social world. While they offer a decent treatment of religion as a sociological phenomenon, and spend oodles of text clarifying and defending their post-modern insights (making the book seem a bit defensive), they utterly fail to discuss, or even a hint at, most of the rest of the field (while the part of the field left out is rather larger than the part they have discussed).
As a narrative, it's a good, light read, but once you start reading a bit more closely large amounts of their arguments lack justification or even coherence, and are hard to follow in general due to a lack of clarity of their analysis. They seem to think that vaguely referencing sociological phenomena is the way to be a true academic, and especially their discussion of feminism (or deconstructive trends more generally) is terrible. It could not even tell me one way in which masculine thinking biased researchers' theorizing, either by ignoring possible solutions because they weren't "linear" or otherwise.
Do not buy or read this.
March 31, 2023
Perhaps the strangest "textbook" I've ever read.
It was far more a persuasive piece on the importance of sociological study of sciences and used lots of rhetoric instead of laying out axioms and principles to follow.
Nevertheless, I am persuaded. Understanding the role of science and how it is performed is very important in our world. Surprisingly, i enjoyed especially enjoyed the exploration of science through the lens of critical theory and power dynamics.
My biggest criticism, is the author came off as a paranoid and unsure atheist to the point that it distracted from main points. Interesting sections would be broken apart by a recitation of postmodernist creeds like the rejection of Truth and the fall of religion as a viable rational option. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Anyway, an interesting and fun read, even with some distractions and hiccups.
It was far more a persuasive piece on the importance of sociological study of sciences and used lots of rhetoric instead of laying out axioms and principles to follow.
Nevertheless, I am persuaded. Understanding the role of science and how it is performed is very important in our world. Surprisingly, i enjoyed especially enjoyed the exploration of science through the lens of critical theory and power dynamics.
My biggest criticism, is the author came off as a paranoid and unsure atheist to the point that it distracted from main points. Interesting sections would be broken apart by a recitation of postmodernist creeds like the rejection of Truth and the fall of religion as a viable rational option. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Anyway, an interesting and fun read, even with some distractions and hiccups.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews