Unfinished Nature
Particle Physics at CERN
Published on 2. April 2024
Book
Hardback
296 pages
978-0-231-20552-8 (ISBN)
Description
The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, the culmination of a decades-long search, is one of the singular triumphs of particle physics. Advanced experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (the Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) near Geneva detected the long-hypothesized particle, resulting in the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics. Drawing on two and a half years of in-depth fieldwork spent among CERN's research community during this critical period, Arpita Roy offers a rich analysis of science in the making.
To what extent are scientific discoveries a matter of empirical findings? How do scientists at the farthest reach of abstraction understand their work? Unfinished Nature delves deep into this particle physics laboratory to distinguish the modes of reasoning that animate scientific discoveries and innovations. Demonstrating a deep knowledge of both contemporary physics and the methods of qualitative social science, Roy considers what scientists have to say about their commitments and concerns, the sources and vision guiding their experiments, and the questions they ask of themselves and others. In so doing, she argues that finding new facts in experimental physics turns on conceptual leaps, not necessarily empirical results. A sophisticated interdisciplinary ethnography of a scientific community, Unfinished Nature offers provocative insights into the nature and production of scientific knowledge.
To what extent are scientific discoveries a matter of empirical findings? How do scientists at the farthest reach of abstraction understand their work? Unfinished Nature delves deep into this particle physics laboratory to distinguish the modes of reasoning that animate scientific discoveries and innovations. Demonstrating a deep knowledge of both contemporary physics and the methods of qualitative social science, Roy considers what scientists have to say about their commitments and concerns, the sources and vision guiding their experiments, and the questions they ask of themselves and others. In so doing, she argues that finding new facts in experimental physics turns on conceptual leaps, not necessarily empirical results. A sophisticated interdisciplinary ethnography of a scientific community, Unfinished Nature offers provocative insights into the nature and production of scientific knowledge.
Reviews / Votes
Arpita Roy, whose exceptional academic career straddles physics, anthropology, and sociology, spent two and a half years at CERN in Switzerland to bring us her unique insights into the working of particle physics. Even professional particle physicists will find much that is novel in this eye-opening book. -- A. Zee, author of <i>Quantum Field Theory as Simply as Possible</i> In Unfinished Nature, Arpita Roy takes science and technology studies back to the high-energy physics laboratory to explore its unfinished business-excavating the foundations of reality. Her ethnography of CERN combines STS's attention to practice with a philosopher's concern with ideas to show how cultural presuppositions determine the material universe. -- Perrin Selcer, author of <i>The Postwar Origins of the Global Environment: How the United Nations Built Spaceship Earth</i> Empirical science is facing a crisis of confidence while cutting-edge technology inspires an almost blind acceptance. Anthropologist Arpita Roy takes an unusual step by studying on site the human involvement at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. By focusing on the nexus of the theoretical with the technical and experimental, Roy sheds light on an array of phenomena ranging from the theoretical quandaries of particle physics to the funding and publicity of the most advanced science. -- Andrew Weeks, author of <i>Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493-1541): Essential Theoretical Writings of Paracelsus</i> Recommended. * Choice * I learned a lot from this compact book, and you will as well. * American Ethnologist * One of the standout strengths of Unfinished Nature is its thoroughness and the quality of the research....Roy's work is an important contribution to the fields of science and technology studies, anthropology, and the philosophy of science, paving the way for further inquiry and discovery. * Contemporary Sociology *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-231-20552-8 (9780231205528)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2024
1st Edition
Columbia University Press
€34.49
Available for download
Person
Arpita Roy is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Content
List of Illustrations
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Finding the Higgs Boson
2. Nature and Signature
3. On Orientation
4. The Cycle of Work
5. Art, Science, and Postmodernism
Epilogue
Notes
References
Index
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Finding the Higgs Boson
2. Nature and Signature
3. On Orientation
4. The Cycle of Work
5. Art, Science, and Postmodernism
Epilogue
Notes
References
Index