Everyday Practice of Science

This book presents an overview of the scientific process, or what the author calls everyday practice of science. All practitioners of science face common problems: what to do; when to do it; how to do it; who should pay for it; and-after the work is completed-what the findings mean. Grinnell provides some general insights about these issues using examples mostly drawn from his experiences in the biomedical sciences and biomedical research community. The author distinguishes everyday...
More Description

This book presents an overview of the scientific process, or what the author calls everyday practice of science. All practitioners of science face common problems: what to do; when to do it; how to do it; who should pay for it; and-after the work is completed-what the findings mean. Grinnell provides some general insights about these issues using examples mostly drawn from his experiences in the biomedical sciences and biomedical research community. The author distinguishes everyday practice from the idealized linear model of research, which suggests that the path from hypothesis to discovery follows a direct line guided by objectivity and logic. According to this model, facts about the world are there waiting to be observed and collected, the scientific method is used to make discoveries, and researchers are dispassionate and objective. Although representative of the way that science is taught, Grinnell believes that the linear model corresponds to a mythical account-or at least a significant distortion-of everyday practice. He explains how rather than linear, the path to actual discovery in everyday practice is ambiguous and convoluted with lots of dead ends.Rather than dispassionate and objective, real life researchers work within the contexts of particular life interests and commitments. Said another way: the book describes the everyday practice of science in a fashion that embraces intuition and passion without abandoning logic and objectivity. Scratch the surface of the anonymous and somewhat boring linear model and one finds excitement, risk and adventure.