The History of Scientific Practice
{'Code': '08080301', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DBI', 'LongName': 'Div Of Biological Infrastructure'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Alicia Armstrong', 'PO_EMAI': 'aarmstro@nsf.gov', 'PO_PHON': '7032924743'}
Scientific theory has traditionally been the center of attention in             the history, philosophy and sociology of science.  It is, after all,            these grand theoretical breakthroughs which have so radically                   reoriented our understanding of our world and which bring about                 scientific "revolutions."  Indeed, philosophers argue that, logically           speaking anyway, even unexpected and contradictory observations and             experimental results can be accommodated with certain alterations to            the accepted theory.  Having said this, however, everyone recognizes            that it is the practice of science--what scientists do from day to              day in their active testing of nature--which really needs study.  It            is in practice, for example, that one gain understand how traditions            are preserved or national "styles" developed.  But it is this                   "practice" which is most hidden from view.  Students are taught it,             but not in text books.  Scientific papers present results, not                  practice.  Professor McCormmach's project, working with Dr. Christa             Jungnickel, will investigate this most important yet least understood           aspect of science in the context of a critical period in science's              development, the period just before the development of scientific               disciplines.  His research will center on the work of the members of            the Royal Society in the 18th century and will be made possible by              the society's own extensive archival records and rich collections of            manuscripts of its members.  Because the study uses broadly defined             categories of scientific practice as its tool of analysis, the work             draws extensively on the working lives of scientists, which are                 accessible to us through these manuscripts and correspondences.  This           study has the purpose of placing scientific practice and its results            within the context of London, of British intellectual, social and               economic life.  By doing so, it exposes connections and parallels               between 18th century British science and its context that were                  important for the development of British science.
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{'Code': '1353', 'Text': 'Hist & Philosophy of SET'}
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