ABSTRACT
In analyzing science it is crucial to make a distinction between two types of knowledge: the core and the research frontier (S. Cole, 1992). The core consists of a small group of theories, methods, and exemplars that are al most universally accepted by the relevant scientific community as being both true and important. Examples of parts of the core in physics would be quantum mechanics, the Weinberg, Salam and Glashow theory of weak interactions, or the Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer theory of superconduc tivity. An example in molecular biochemistry would be the Watson and Crick model of DNA. And an example in evolutionary biology would be Darwin’s theory of evolution.
