S3 - Samara & Carmelina on 'Seeing Science Differently'

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science

Welcome to Season 3 of the HPS podcast!
It's so great to be back.
Kicking off our third season, we have a new addition to the team, Carmelina Contarino.
Carmelina is an Honours student in HPS at the University of Melbourne and will be joining Samara in producing the podcast, as well as hosting several of the episodes.
In today's episode, Samara and Carmelina dive into what has become a bit of a theme of the podcast, 'Seeing Science Differently'. Science isn't always as neat or as sterile as we have been lead to expect. Instead, HPS shows science to be far more interesting. It's a little bit messy, sometimes unpredictable and full of unexpected twists.
We particular love this quote from François Jacob's autobiography 'Of Flies, Mice, and Men' featured in this episode:
"When you look more closely at 'what scientists do', you might be surprised to find that research actually comprises both the so-called day science and night science. Day science calls into play arguments that mesh like gears, results that have the force of certainty... Conscious of its progress, proud of its past, sure of its future, day science advances in light and glory.
By contrast, night science wanders blind. It hesitates, stumbles, recoils, sweats, wakes with a start. Doubting everything, it is forever trying to find itself, question itself, pull itself back together. Night science is a sort of workshop of the possible. Where what will become the building material of science is worked out. Where hypotheses remain in the form of vague presentiments and woolly impressions...
Where thought makes its way along meandering paths and twisting lanes, most often leading nowhere."
Further links

• Stephen Shapin's Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as if It Was Produced by People with Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority.
• Hasok Chang's Podcast Episode

Transcript

• www.hpsunimelb.org/post/s3-samara-and-carmelina-transcript

Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast with current producers, Samara Greenwood and Carmelina Contarino. You can find more about us on our blog, website, bluesky, twitter, instagram and facebook feeds. Music by ComaStudio.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne.
HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org