Shaping Science

Name: Shaping Science
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SKU: 9780226829555
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Organizations, Decisions, and Culture on NASA's Teams

By Janet Vertesi

Summary

Shaping Science explores the intricate relationship between the social organisation of NASA's robotic spacecraft teams and the scientific knowledge they produce. Drawing on a decade of immersive ethnography, Janet Vertesi offers a comparative study of two landmark space missions from the early 2000s, revealing how team structures and decision-making processes influence mission outcomes. By embedding herself within these teams, Vertesi uncovers the human factors behind robotic explorations of the solar system, demonstrating how scientific discovery is deeply shaped by collaboration and organisational context.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$56⁹⁹

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Shaping Science

$56⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in the sociology of science, organisational studies, space exploration, and those fascinated by how human collaboration shapes scientific research.

Description

Shaping Science by Janet Vertesi draws on a decade of immersive ethnography with NASA’s robotic spacecraft teams to create a comparative account of two great space missions of the early 2000s. Although these missions featured robotic explorers on the frontiers of the solar system bravely investigating new worlds, their commands were issued from millions of miles away by a very human team.

By examining the two teams’ formal structures, decision-making techniques, and informal work practices in the day-to-day process of mission planning, Vertesi shows just how deeply entangled a team’s local organizational context is with the knowledge they produce about other worlds.

Using extensive, embedded experiences on two NASA spacecraft teams, this is the first book to apply organizational studies of work to the laboratory environment in order to analyze the production of scientific knowledge itself. Engaging and deeply researched, Shaping Science demonstrates the significant influence that the social organization of a scientific team can have on the practices of that team and the results they yield.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Nature praises the book for lifting the curtain on NASA missions, highlighting how Vertesi illustrates that the scientific discoveries depend fundamentally on team collaboration. The review notes the book's sweeping conclusions about the nature of scientific discovery and its implications for researchers across fields.

The book is also recognised for its intelligent and well-structured explanations, enriching organisational science discourse with new insights derived from detailed real-world experience.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780226829555

Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 September 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: University of Chicago Press

Illustration: 12 halftones

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 454g

Pages: 352

Collections

Education & Reference Engineering, Technology & Agriculture Janet Vertesi Non-Fiction Science & Nature

About the Author

Janet Vertesi is associate professor of sociology at Princeton University. She is the author of Seeing Like a Rover: How Robots, Teams, and Images Craft Knowledge of Mars, also published by the University of Chicago Press, and coeditor of Representation in Scientific Practice Revisited and digitalSTS.