ABSTRACT

The term “science studies” describes the work of a broad group of interdisciplinary scholars who vary in their premises, methods, or conclusions. However, they share an interest in the history, practice, and social consequences of developments in science and technology, ideas which are also of interest to writers and scholars of sf. Science studies tends to focus on what are sometimes called the “hard sciences” – disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and physics which investigate the physical world through experimental practice. Scholarship in the field falls into three broad classifications: studies of the content of science, including its historical development and its difference from other sorts of knowledge; studies of the practice of science, such as ethnographic analyses of scientific writing or lab cultures, or critiques of science’s philosophical underpinnings; and analyses of technoculture, which focus on the social and ethical consequences of scientific “discoveries” and technological creations. Both science studies and sf define themselves via a relationship to the discourse and practice of science, and both vary enormously in how they define “science” and conceive of its interactions with culture.