ABSTRACT
The current image of science is one of men in laboratories conducting experiments, not one of men in offices wielding pens. Philosophers of science in particular paint a picture of science that leaves no real place for the thinker in his armchair. Sociologists often have accepted the philosopher's view of scientific activity as being that of men in white coats. In attempting to come to grips with Parsons, it is essential to have a view of science that gives a place to somebody who describes himself in the dedication of one of his books (SS) as ‘an incurable theorist’.
