Progress in Science and Its Social Conditions

Progress in Science and Its Social Conditions focuses on the drive to institute a sound development of science relative to technological innovations.
Discussed in the book are the contributions of authors who have conducted research on the advancement of science in different environments. The contributions include literature that focus on tracing the history of science and how it has advanced in different countries. The book also elaborates on the emergence of various movements in scientific progress, including scientism, anti-scientism, elitism, and charlatanism. The conditions in the advance of science is then given attention. The book also highlights the role of higher education in research and development, and at the same time, puts emphasis on the recruitment of scientists in less developed countries. The processes and related factors of the advancement of technological innovation in various industrial settings are discussed. This is conducted by tracking how one company was able to upgrade the products it offers. The advancement of technology is identified as it is established that the company has continuously upgraded its products through the years.
The contributions in this book can best serve the interest of those in the field of science, particularly those who are conducting research on its progress and utilization.

Contenu

Introduction
What is Progress in Science?
The Seventeenth-Century Outlook on Science
Science, Technology, Progress and the Break-through: China as a Case Study in Human History
Progress of Science in Africa - in Tradition, Culture and Religion
The Growth of Science: Romantic and Technocratic Images
Discussion Summary
Anti-Intellectualism and Charlatanism; Elitism and Mediocrity
Magic, Science and Institutionalization in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Discussion Summary
Science, Scientism and Anti-Scientism
Discussion Summary
Creative Thinking in Science and in Human Relations
Discussion Summary
Promotion of Excellence or Mediocrity
Discussion Summary
Conditions for Progress in Science
Getting to Know Everything about Nothing: Subject Specialization in Science
Planning, Administration and Organization of Science as a Means for Initiation, Enhancement and Development of Individual and Social Scientific Curiosity and Creativity
Discussion Summary
The Individual as a Human Resource for Scientific Progress
Discussion Summary
Educational Aspects and Recruitment of Scientists in Small Less Developed Countries
Discussion Summary
Modern Forms of Education in the Recruitment and Selection of Scientists
Discussion Summary
Understanding the Processes of Science: The Psychology of Scientific Discovery
Discussion Summary
Contagious Knowledge: Contagion as a Quality Criterion for Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science
Discussion Summary
The Meaning of Innovation at Sony
Discussion Summary
Cooperation and Conflicts in Industry-University Relations
Discussion Summary
Creativity in Science and Art
The Unique and the Commonplace in the Creations of Art and Science
Discussion Summary
Excellence and Creativity in Science
Discussion Summary
Progress and Reality in the Arts and in the Sciences
Discussion Summary
"Progress" in Science?
Discussion Summary
List of Participants, Organizers and Observers
Index