Sociologists of Science

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The ethos of science was always been about seeking for the truth. Ptolemy wanted to know what was in the heavens. Newton wanted to know about motion and force. Einstein wanted to know about protons and relativity. These scientists and many others have always had that pure desire of wanting to learn the truth about what they were interested. However, if we were to examine the present, scientists today are struggling not because of their truth-seeking journeys but because of the need to produce results so that they can still have the opportunity of keeping their jobs researching the subjects that they have researching for the past few years. In today’s lab, we see researchers scrounging around for grant money and yelling on the phone with the editors for journal space. Professors are stressed wanting to take control of the department’s curricula as they will be the scientific building blocks for students. Are the social organizations, the University and other scientific communities, affecting science to the point that the reality of what is science has been changed? I believe that the skeptical sociologists of science are erroneous to insist that the Scientific Reality is nothing more than a monopoly controlling every aspect of science. In this paper, I will carefully explain what sociology of science is and its effects on scientists and science, clarify how the struggle above is truly influencing scientists and science, and bring about a conclusion that will wrap up my thoughts on the issue.

What is sociology of science? Robert K. Merton, a famous sociology professor from Columbia University, found interest in the subject of how the social and cultural aspects within the lab affect the scientific data being produced. After observi...

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... given to those who are known to produce results. Sponsors search for potential researchers through journals to look for experience, so recognition comes from the articles that labs produce. People fight over journal space because it means their names will be out in the public. Professorship is granted to the well-known researchers and professors try to get a hold of the curriculum to place their thoughts as the building blocks of the students at the University. In the end, all these actions are acts of survival in the harsh environment that science has become. Scientists want to keep their pure desire of wanting to know more even if it means dubious means toward your fellow peers. Science has sociological factors that are affecting it, but its evolution is trying to get rid of such factors to reach the “truth”. Therefore, science is still a quest to find the truth.

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