Epistemology of the Concrete

Rheinberger Hans-Jorg Rheinberger

Description

An Epistemology of the Concrete brings together case studies and theoretical reflections on the history and epistemology of the life sciences by Hans-Jorg Rheinberger, one of the world's foremost philosophers of science. In these essays, he examines the history of experiments, concepts, model organisms, instruments, and the gamut of epistemological, institutional, political, and social factors that determine the actual course of the development of knowledge. Building on ideas from his influential book Toward a History of Epistemic Things, Rheinberger first considers ways of historicizing scientific knowledge, and then explores different configurations of genetic experimentation in the first half of the twentieth century and the interaction between apparatuses, experiments, and concept formation in molecular biology in the second half of the twentieth century. He delves into fundamental epistemological issues bearing on the relationship between instruments and objects of knowledge, laboratory preparations as a special class of epistemic objects, and the note-taking and write-up techniques used in research labs. He takes up topics ranging from the French "historical epistemologists" Gaston Bachelard and Georges Canguilhem to the liquid scintillation counter, a radioactivity measuring device that became a crucial tool for molecular biology and biomedicine in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout An Epistemology of the Concrete, Rheinberger shows how assemblages-historical conjunctures-set the conditions for the emergence of epistemic novelty, and he conveys the fascination of scientific things: those organisms, spaces, apparatuses, and techniques that are transformed by research and that transform research in turn.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Philosophy of science

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 06 septembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822391333
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

A N E P I S T E M O L O G YT H EO F  C O N C R E T E

ExperImental Futures: TechnologIcal LIves, ScIentIic Arts, AnthropologIcal VoIces A series edited by Michael M. J. Fischer and Joseph Dumit

A N E P I S T E M O L O G Y

O F T H E C O N C R E T E

Twentieth-Century Histories of Life

Hans-Jörg Rheinberger

Foreword by Tim Lenoir

D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S

Durham & London 2010

© 2010 Duke ÛnIversIty Press

All rIghts reserved

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on acIdree paper ♾

DesIgned by Amy Ruth uchanan

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prInted page o thIs book.

Epistemologie des Konkretenwas orIgInally

publIshed In German by Suhrkamp

Verlag Frankurt am MaIn © 2006.

C O N T E N T S

llustratIons vII Foreword by TIm LenoIr xI Prologue 1

IstorIcal EpIstemology P A R T I .

1. LudwIk Fleck, Edmund usserl:On the Historicity of Scientiîc Knowledge 13 2. Gaston achelard:The Concept of “Phenomenotechnique” 25 3. Georges CanguIlhem:Epistemological History 37

Model ÔrganIsms: StudIes In the P A R T I I . Istory o eredIty and ReproductIon

4. PIsum:Carl Correns’s Experiments on Xenia, 1896–9951 5. EudorIna:Max Hartmann’s Experiments on Biological Regulation in Protozoa, 1914–21 82 6. EphestIa:Alfred Kühn’s Experimental Design for a Developmental Physiological Genetics, 1924–45 94 7. Tobacco MosaIc VIrus:Virus Research at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes for Biochemistry and Biology, 1937–45128

Concepts and nstruments: P A R T I I I . StudIes In the Istory o Molecular Iology

8. The Concept o the Gene:Molecular Biological Perspectives153 9. The LIquId ScIntIllatIon Counter:Traces of Radioactivity170 10. The Concept o normatIon:The Writings of François Jacob203

EpIstemIc ConiguratIons P A R T I V.

11. ntersectIons 217 12. PreparatIons 233 13. The Economy o the ScrIbble 244

Acknowledgments 253 AbbrevIatIons 255 Notes 257 IblIography 289 ndex 321

viC O N T E N T S

I L L U S T R A T I O N S

 1. Correns’s excerpt rom Mendel’s paper 56  2. Page o Correns’s research protocol entItled “Erbsenaussaat [peas sown]” 59  3. Page o Correns’s research protocol entItled “estäub. u. Ertrag 96 [pollInIzatIon and yIeld, 1896]” 60  4. “Versuch  [ExperIment ].” A cross between a “late green Erurt Folgererbse” wIth a green germ and a “purpurvIolettschotIgen KneIelerbse” wIth a yellow germ, rom Correns’s 1900 paper 61  5. Page o Correns’s research protocol entItled “Resultate [Results] 1897” 63  6. Page o Correns’s research protocol entItled “ErgebnIsse [FIndIngs] 1897” 64  7. Page o Correns’s research protocol entItled “astart [ybrId] gr  p ♂ A 1, (gelb) [yellow]” 66  8. Page o Correns’s research protocol entItled “. Top [pot]. astart [ybrId] gr  p ♂ A. gelb ” 69  9. Page o Correns’s research protocol entItled “99. 1. a. , gr  p, . Gen. . 1. S.grün[green]” 72 10. Note on maIze, 2. . 98 74 11. StatIstIcal consIderatIons and a genealogIcal tree 77 12. SequentIal orderIng o heredItary dIsposItIons 78 13.Eudorina elegans. FIgs. 10–16: cuts. FIgs. 17–29: ImmersIon. MagnIied 1900 tImes (FIg. 18: 2500 tImes). FIgs. 10–21: Normal dIvIsIon o colonIes collected In the wIld In the undekehlensee near erlIn. FIgs. 22–25: Culture orms rom colonIes o dIferent ages. FIg. 26: GIant orm (6 days old). FIgs. 27–29: PrecIpItous dIvIsIon (ater 7 hours o unInterrupted exposure to constant lIght) 88 14. Plot o a cultIvatIon serIes (SerIes ) oEudorina elegans 89 15. CultIvatIon serIes oEudorina elegans 90 16. The ourmothEphestia kühniellaZeller 97 17. WIng oEphestia kühniellaZeller. a) wIngs and theIr veIns; b) and c) desIgn patterns, schematIcally represented In b); d) a desIgn pattern o black anImals 98

18. TestIcle transplant system. 1 and 2: caterpIllar and Imago o the redeyed mutant (aa); 3 and 4 caterpIllar and Imago o the wIldtype (AA); 5 and 6: ater transplantatIon o the testIcle rom 3 Into 5, the eyes o the mature host anImal become dark 105 19. Scheme showIng the mode o actIon o the Agene on the phenotype 111 20. ReactIon scheme showIng the relatIonshIp between geneactIon chaIns and substrate chaIns 119 21. The irst ŚÇ wIth an absolute actIvIty analyzer, mId1960s 171 22. CoIncIdence cIrcuIt usIng crystal dIodes 178 23. FIrst commercIal ŚÇ made by Packard, sold to Argonne Cancer Research ospItal, cIrca 1953 183 24. Packard Model 314 block dIagram, 1954 186 25. FIrst serIal productIon o a TrICarb ŚÇ, a detector wIth a lIghttIght shutteror 50ml sealed ampoule samples or 20ml vIal samples, cIrca 1954 187 26. FIrst automated LIquId ScIntIllatIon Detector, steel shIeldIng, dual elevators, 100 20ml vIal samples In our cIrcular rows, 1957 187 27. ÀÉÇ advertIsements or radIoactIve carbon 193 28. Packard Company advertIsements or a mIcroplate uorometer and a mIcroplate lumInometer 201 29. MakIng botanIcal cuts wIth a straIght razor 221 30. lood pressure experIment wIth a kymographIon 223 31. FruIt y mutant wIth “skI” wIngs 225 32. ntracellular segregatIon o the components oAmphiumalIver cells by hIgh speed centrIugatIon 226 33. Crystals o rIbosomes (70S) rom the bacterIaThermus thermophilus(a) andBacillus stearothermophilus(b) 227 34. FreezedrIed and tungstenshadowed rIbosomes romEscherichia coli 229 35. AutoradIograph showIng extensIve IncorporatIon o amIno acIds (CadenIne) In the nucleolus oAcetabularia 231 36. The irst commercIal lIquId scIntIllatIon counter, wIth a lead chamber or 50ml ampoules 232 37. Dry preparatIon o a let hand showIng the blood vessels 235 38. Wet preparatIon o gangrene o the toes caused by arterIosclerosIs 236 39.Silene chloranthaEhrh., ound on sunny hIlls In ReInIckendor by FrIedrIch August KörnIcke (1828–1908) 239 40.Hepar cuniculi. A cubIc preparatIon rom the case “ÔrIgInal preparatIons by Jos. yrtl, a gIt or VIrchow” 240

viiiI L L U S T R A T I O N S

41. A twodImensIonal mInIature polyacrylamIde gel wIth the proteIns o the large rIbosomal subunIt (50S) oEscherichia coli 242 42. Dust jacket o the German edItIon o FrançoIs Jacob’sThe Logic of Life 243 43. ybrId gr  p . 1 yellow [gelb] 250

I L L U S T R A T I O N Six