Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts

Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts by Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar

Synopsis: This highly original work presents laboratory science in a deliberately skeptical way: as an anthropological approach to the culture of the scientist. Drawing on recent work in literary criticism, the authors study how the social world of the laboratory produces papers and other “texts,”‘ and how the scientific vision of reality becomes that set of statements considered, for the time being, too expensive to change. The book is based on field work done by Bruno Latour in Roger Guillemin’s laboratory at the Salk Institute and provides an important link between the sociology of modern sciences and laboratory studies in the history of science.

First Published: 1979 | ISBN-13: 978-0691028323

Bruno’s Homepage: http://www.bruno-latour.fr

Mini-bio: Stephen Woolgar, is a British sociologist. He has worked closely with Bruno Latour, with whom he wrote Laboratory Life: the Social Construction of Scientific Facts. Wikipedia

Another book ahead of its time that forever changed the way I thought about science and technology. What do scientists do in laboratories, and why is theory so privileged over practice in science? Just how do facts become facts? What happens if we go back to a time when established facts were controversies? This beautifully written book helped me see how social studies of science and technology can provide answers to questions like these and set me on the path to using actor-network theory. – From 10 Great Books on Technology

A Fine Theorem Book Review
Medical History Book Review