ABSTRACT
The sociology of science and technology in general, and that of social science and social engineering in particular, is an underdeveloped discipline. In the almost total absence of research in this field, all we can do is to speculate, trying to put in some systematic order the impressions we have from our work and its practical impact on society. While this obviously entails the risk of going totally wrong or, at best, of only reaching conclusions that are less specific and determinate than the standards we ordinarily try to attain in our work, such speculation is nevertheless the beginning of the search for knowledge: it raises questions and formulates hypotheses for research.
