A creature of Jewish mythology, a golem is an animated being made by man from clay and water who knows neither his own strength nor the extent of his ignorance. Like science and technology, the subjects of Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch''s previous volumes, medicine is also a golem, and this Dr. Golem should not be blamed for its mistakesOCothey are, after all, "our" mistakes. The problem lies in its well-meaning clumsiness. "Dr. Golem" explores some of the mysteries and complexities of medicine while untangling the inherent conundrums of scientific research and highlighting its vagaries. Driven by the question of what to do in the face of the fallibility of medicine, "Dr. Golem "encourages a more inquisitive attitude toward the explanations and accounts offered by medical science. In eight chapters devoted to case studies of modern medicine, Collins and Pinch consider the prevalence of tonsillectomies, the placebo effect and randomized control trials, bogus doctors, CPR, the efficacy of Vitamin C in fighting cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, AIDS cures, and vaccination. They also examine the tension between the conflicting faces of medicine: medicine as science versus medicine as a source of succor; the interests of an individual versus the interests of a group; and the benefits in the short term versus success rates in the long term. Throughout, Collins and Pinch remind readers that medical science is an economic as well as a social consideration, encapsulated for the authors in the timeless struggle to balance the good health of the manyOCowith vaccinations, for instanceOCowith the good health of a fewOCothose who have adverse reactions to the vaccine. In an age when the deaths of research subjects, the early termination of clinical trials, and the research guidelines for stem cells are front-page news, "Dr. Golem" is a timely analysis of the limitations of medicine that never loses sight of its strengths."

Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine

Harry Collins

Trevor Pinch

University of Chicago Press

Tacit and Explicit Knowledge

Much of what humans know we cannot say. And much of what we do we cannot describe. For example, how do we know how to ride a bike when we can&#8217;t explain how we do it? Abilities like this were called &#8220;tacit knowledge&#8221; by physical chemist and philosopher Michael Polanyi, but here Harry Collins analyzes the term, and the behavior, in much greater detail, often departing from Polanyi&#8217;s treatment.In Tacit and Explicit Knowledge, Collins develops a common conceptual language to bridge the concept&#8217;s disparate domains by explaining explicit knowledge and classifying tacit knowledge. Collins then teases apart the three very different meanings, which, until now, all fell under the umbrella of Polanyi&#8217;s term: relational tacit knowledge (things we could describe in principle if someone put effort into describing them),&#160; somatic tacit knowledge (things our bodies can do but we cannot describe how, like balancing on a bike), and collective tacit knowledge (knowledge we draw that is the property of society, such as the rules for language). Thus, bicycle riding consists of some somatic tacit knowledge and some collective tacit knowledge, such as the knowledge that allows us to navigate in traffic. The intermixing of the three kinds of tacit knowledge has led to confusion in the past; Collins&#8217;s book will at last unravel the complexities of the idea.Tacit knowledge drives everything from language, science, education, and management to sport, bicycle riding, art, and our interaction with technology.&#160; In Collins&#8217;s able hands, it also functions at last as a framework for understanding human behavior in a range of disciplines.

We live in times of increasing public distrust of the main institutions of modern society. Experts, including scientists, are suspected of working to hidden agendas or serving vested interests. The solution is usually seen as more public scrutiny and more control by democratic institutions – experts must be subservient to social and political life. In this book, Harry Collins and Robert Evans take a radically different view. They argue that, rather than democracies needing to be protected from science, democratic societies need to learn how to value science in this new age of uncertainty. By emphasizing that science is a moral enterprise, guided by values that should matter to all, they show how science can support democracy without destroying it and propose a new institution – The Owls – that can mediate between science and society and improve technological decision-making for the benefit of all.

Why Democracies Need Science

Robert Evans

Polity Press

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Books by Harry Collins

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Harry Collins. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine

Tacit and Explicit Knowledge

Why Democracies Need Science