附註:Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-259) and index.
Instrument epistemology -- Models : representing things -- Working knowledge -- Encapsulating knowledge -- The instrumentation revolution -- Thing knowledge -- The thing-y-ness of things -- Between technology and science -- Instrumental objectivity -- The gift.
摘要:Western philosophers have traditionally concentrated on theory as the means for expressing knowledge about a variety of phenomena. This absorbing book challenges this fundamental notion by showing how objects themselves, specifically scientific instruments, can express knowledge. As he considers numerous intriguing examples, Davis Baird gives us the tools to "read" the material products of science and technology and to understand their place in culture. Making a provocative and original challenge to our conception of knowledge itself, Thing Knowledge demands that we take a new look at theories.