Robert Evans
Cardiff School of Social Sciences
The Third Wave of Science Studies
It has to be noted that the paper published by Harry Collins and myself in Social Studies of Science in April 2002 did generate some controversy (to put it mildly!). References and links to the original paper, the three critical responses, the one positive response and our reply to them all can be found at the bottom of this page.
Perhaps because of the controversy, or perhaps because it contains some good ideas, the Three Wave paper has become one of the most cited papers in Social Studies of Science. For example, the Sage website generally includes it in the top 5 most cited articles (check this claim!); and google scholar reported over 170 citations in December 2007 (get the latest figure here!). The work has also featured in Nature and in the Times Higher Eduction Supplement and the original paper has now been reprinted in an edited collection on The Philosophy of Expertise.
Other evidence for the impact of the paper can be found in the number of presentations Harry Collins and I have been asked to give on the topic and from the ways in which others are starting to find the ideas useful in their own work. Examples of this work were presented at and NSF funded workshop on ‘Trading Zones and Interactional Expertise’ held at Pheonix Arizonza in May 2006 and several of the papers presented there have now been published in a special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. A follow up event – the SEESHOP 1 workshop held in Cardiff in 2007 – was also very successful and will, we hope, leader to further publications and another SEESHOP in 2008.
References
Collins, H M and Evans, R J (2002) ‘The Third Wave of Science Studies:
Studies of Expertise and Experience’, Social Studies of Sciences,
32 (2): 235-96. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312702032002003>.
Reprinted in Evan Selinger and Robert P. Crease (eds) (2006) The
Philosophy of Expertise, New York: Columbia University Press. Pp. 39-110.
Collins, H. M., &; Evans, R. J., (2003) 'King Canute Meets the Beach Boys: Responses to The Third Wave', Social Studies of Science, 33,3, 435-52 [June].<http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/03063127030333007>
Gorman, Michael (2002) 'Levels of Expertise and Trading Zones', Social Studies of Science, 32,6, 933-938 [December]. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/030631270203200511>
Jasanoff, Sheila (2003) 'Breaking the Waves in Science Studies', Social Studies of Science, 33,3, 389-400 [June]. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/03063127030333004>
Rip, Arie (2003) 'Constructing Expertise in a Third Wave of Science Studies?', Social Studies of Science, 33, 3, 419-434 [June]. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/03063127030333006>
Wynne, Brian (2003) 'Seasick on the Third Wave? Subverting the Hegemony of
Propositionalism', Social Studies of Science, 33, 3, 401-417. [June]. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/03063127030333005>
Last updated on 1 July, 2010