TY - BOOK ID - 25185688 TI - Misunderstanding science? : the public reconstruction of science and technology AU - Irwin, Alan AU - Wynne, Brian PY - 1996 SN - 0521432685 0521525209 0511563736 0511882106 PB - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, DB - UniCat KW - Sociology of knowledge KW - -Science news KW - News, Science KW - Popularization of science KW - Popularization KW - Science news KW - Science KW - Communication in science KW - Journalism KW - Technical writing KW - Science and society KW - Sociology of science KW - Social aspects KW - Arts and Humanities KW - History KW - Science news. KW - Social aspects. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:25185688 AB - Misunderstanding Science? offers a challenging new perspective on the public understanding of science. In so doing, it also challenges existing ideas of the nature of science and its relationships with society. Its analysis and case presentation are highly relevant to current concerns over the uptake, authority, and effectiveness of science as expressed, for example, in areas such as education, medical/health practice, risk and the environment, technological innovation. Based on several in-depth case-studies, and informed theoretically by the sociology of scientific knowledge, the book shows how the public understanding of science questions raises issues of the epistemic commitments and institutional structures which constitute modern science. It suggests that many of the inadequacies in the social integration and uptake of science might be overcome if modern scientific institutions were more reflexive and open about the implicit normative commitments embedded in scientific cultures. ER -