Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 1994

Cold fusion and the sociology of scientific knowledge

Trevor Pinch Cornell University

Abstract

The early stages of the cold fusion controversy are reviewed. It is shown how ideas in the sociology of scientific knowledge such as “symmetry,”; “interpretative flexibility,”; and “experimenter's regress”; are applicable to the controversy. It is argued that there is nothing exceptional about the dynamics of the debate, apart from the media attention. In cold fusion we see scientific controversy as normal.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
1994-01-01
DOI
10.1080/10572259409364559
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Topics
argument
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. THACKER et al. (1995)
    Transmuting Common Substances: The Cold Fusion Controversy and the Rhetoric of …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication

References (15) · 1 in this index

  1. Bloor David (1991)
    Knowledge and Social Imagery
  2. Broad William J. (1991)
    “Cold‐Fusion Claim Is Faulted on Ethics as Well as Science.”
    New York Times
  3. Close Frank (1990)
    Too Hot to Handle: The Race for Cold Fusion
  4. Collins Harry M. (1981)
    Knowledge and Controversy. Spec. issue of Social Studies of Science
  5. (1992)
    Changing Order
Show all 15 →
  1. Gieryn Thomas (1992)
    The Social Dimensions of Science
  2. Gross Alan (1986)
    Unpublished essay, 1992.Latour, Bruno Science in Action
  3. 10.1086/368708
     ↗
  4. Mallove Eugene (1991)
    Fire from Ice
  5. 10.1177/030631285015001001
     ↗
  6. (1986)
    Confronting Nature: The Sociology of Solar‐'Neutrino Detection
  7. (1991)
    “The Role of Scientific Communities in the Development of Science.”
    Impact of Science on Society
  8. (1992)
    Paper presented at the conference on Rhetoric and Science
  9. Shapin Steven (1985)
    Leviathan and the Air‐pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life
  10. Taylor (1994)
    Science as cultural practice: A rhetorical perspective
    Technical Communication Quarterly
CrossRef global citation count: 8 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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