ABSTRACT
Because science involves producing knowledge about what was previously unknown, uncertainty is a normal and necessary characteristic of scientific work. Scientists regularly engage parts of the world unfamiliar to them. This is not unique to science; many other workers, such as physicians or mechanics, regularly inhabit an uncertain world as well. Thus, the fact that uncertainty among scientists is prevalent is less interesting and significant than the attempt to reveal how uncertainty is actively managed by scientists. This chapter focuses on different features of the management process. It demonstrates that scientific uncertainty is not simply something that scientists try to eliminate through their research. Scientists also actively construct and effectively use it in scientific articles and in public science contexts. 1
