The Tangle of Science

Science is remarkably reliable. It puts people on the moon, performs laser eye surgery, tells us about ancient civilizations and species, and predicts the future of our climate. What underwrites this reliability? This book argues that the standard answers--the scientific method, rigour, and objectivity--are insufficient for the job. Here we propose a new model of science which places its products front and centre. In The Tangle of Science we show how any reliable piece of science is underpinned by a vast, diverse, and thick network of other scientific products. In doing so we bring back into focus areas of science that have been long neglected, emphasizing how every product, from the screws that hold the space shuttle together, to ways of measuring the consumer price index, to Einstein's theory of general relativity, work together to support results we can trust.

Nancy Cartwright is a philosopher of science focusing on evidence, objectivity, modelling, and causation. The first half of her career at Stanford she worked in philosophy of physics; in the second half, at LSE, Durham and UCSD, on philosophy of the social and economic sciences and the philosophy of social technology, with recent attention to evidence-based policy. She is a fellow of the British Academy and the (UK) Academy of Social Science, a member of the German Academy of Science (Leopoldina) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of the Hempel Award and a MacArthur Fellowship. Jeremy Hardie was a Fellow and Tutor in Economics at Keble College, Oxford, from 1968 to 1975. After that he worked as a businessman and a public servant for many years. He returned to academia in 1998, and is currently a Research Associate at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics. Eleonora Montuschi is a philosopher of science with a particular interest in the social sciences. She works on objectivity, the use of evidence and the relation between scientific experts, democratic institutions and engaged citizenship. Before moving to Ca' Foscari she taught at Oxford, Warwick, University College London and the London School of Economics. She is project leader of the Horizon 2020 research project 'Inclusive Science and European Democracy', co-leader of the research programme 'Evidence for Use' at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at LSE, and director of the international research centre 'Trust in Science' at Ca' Foscari. Matthew Soleiman is a doctoral student in the Department of History and Science Studies program at UC San Diego. He received his master's degree in neuroscience from the University of Washington and his bachelor's degree in psychology from UC San Diego. His research spans the history of the mind and brain sciences, the history of medicine, and science and technology studies. He is currently a PhD Fellow at the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC San Diego. Ann C. Thresher is a doctoral student at UC San Diego where she works on the philosophy of science, environmental ethics, emerging technologies, and the philosophy of physics. She is a 2022 Heinrich Hertz Fellow at the University of Bonn, and was previously a graduate fellow at the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC San Diego. She has spoken at San Diego Comic Con on the physics of time travel, and before pursuing her doctoral degree worked for the London Mathematical Society where she ran their 150th anniversary celebrations. She holds two bachelors degrees from the University of Sydney, one in physics and one in philosophy, and grew up in Hobart, Tasmania.

- Acknowledgements - Preface - What This Book is About - Part 1: The Usual Suspects - 1: Scientific Method - 2: Rigour - 3: Objectivity - Part 2: The Tangle of Science - 4: The Tangle - 5: Illustrating the Tangle: Episodes from the History of Science - 6: The Tangled Principle of the Democratic Peace - 7: Afterword: The Study of Gravitational Waves: A Cautionary Lesson - References