Measurement and Statistics on Science and Technology: 1920 to the Present (Routledge Studies in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine)

How do we objectively measure scientific activities? What proportion of economic activities should a society devote to research and development? How can public-sector and private-sector research best be directed to achieve social goals? Governments and researchers from industrial countries have been measuring science and technology for more than eighty years. This book provides the first comprehensive account of the attempts to measure science and technology activities in Western countries and the successes and shortcomings of statistical systems. Godin guides readers through the historical moments that led to the development of statistics on science and technology and also examines the socio-political dynamics behind social measurement. This enlightening account will be of interest to students and academics investigating science measurement as well as policy makers working in this burgeoning field. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 6 Copyright......Page 7 Contents......Page 10 Foreword......Page 15 Acknowledgments......Page 22 Introduction......Page 24 1 Eighty years of science and technology statistics......Page 44 2 Taking demand seriously NESTI and the role of national statisticians......Page 70 3 Is research always systematic......Page 80 4 Ne glected scientific activities the non measurement of related scientific activities......Page 95 5 What’s so difficult about international statistics UNESCO and the measurement of scientific and technological activities......Page 113 6 The emergence of science and technology indicators why did governments supplement statistics with indicators......Page 128 7 Measuring output when economics drives science and technology measurement......Page 143 8 The rise of innovation surveys measuring a fuzzy concept......Page 161 9 Metadata how footnotes make for doubtful numbers......Page 180 10 Tradition and innovation the historical contingency of science and technology statistical classifications......Page 205 11 The most cherished indicator Gross Domestic Expenditures on R D GERD......Page 224 12 Technological gaps between quantitative evidence and qualitative arguments......Page 241 13 Highly qualified personnel should we really believe in shortages......Page 262 14 Is there basic research without statistics......Page 285 15 Are statistics really useful myths and politics of science and technology indicators......Page 310 Appendices......Page 347 Index......Page 380 With the rise of genomics, the life sciences have entered a new era. Maps of genomes have become the icons for a comprehensive knowledge of the organism on a previously unattained level of complexity. This book provides an in-depth history of mapping procedures as they were developed in classical genetics. The book shows that the technology of genetic mapping is by no means a recent acquisition of molecular genetics or even genetic engineering. It demonstrates that the development of mapping technologies has accompanied the rise of modern genetics from its very beginnings. In the first section, Mendelian genetics is set in perspective from the viewpoint of the detection and description of linkage phenomena. The second section addresses the role of mapping for the experimental working practice of classical geneticists, their social interactions, and for their laboratory "life worlds." With its detailed analyses of the scientific practices and its illustration of the diversity of mapping, this book is a significant contribution to the history of genetics. A companion volume from the same editors - From Molecular Genetics to Genomics: The mapping cultures of twentieth-cent genetics - covers the history of molecular genetics and genomics "This book provides the first comprehensive account of the attempts to measure science and technology activities in Western countries and the successes and shortcomings of historical weighing systems. Godin guides readers through the historical moments that led to the development of statistics on science and technology and also examines the socio-political dynamics behind the activities of science measurement." "This account will be of interest to students and academics investigating science measurement as well as policy-makers working in this burgeoning field."--Jacket