Social Control and Multiple Discovery in Science: The Opiate Receptor Case(SUNY series in Science, Technology, and Society)

Recognition for accomplishment is a major institutional reward in the scientific community, thus regulating disputes over credit for discovery, can be viewed as an important problem in social control. Cozzens examines a well-known dispute — one that took place with the discovery of the opiate receptor in neuropharmacological research. The issues Cozzens discusses — priority disputes, social control, and norms and morals — are important throughout the sciences; they are crucial factors in the lives of scientists, the functioning of scientific communities, and the day-to-day operations of scientific organizations.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables Preface 1. Introduction Priority Disputes Third Parties Moral Response 2. The Similarity Dilemma Individual and Culture Community and Culture The Operational Problem of Similarity A Different Problem of Similarity 3. Defining the Discovery Issues in Priority Disputes The Meaning of Priority The Problem of Assigning Priority Rules or Criteria? The Theory of Third Parties Moral Response 4. The Case Study Drug Receptors The Opiate Breakthrough Discovery? Impact The Data Choice of Case Study 5. Discoveries The Opiate Receptor Hypothesis Claims to the Discovery Similarities and Differences The Eureka Syndrome 6. Agreements and Disagreements A Similarity Dilemma Conflict and Accommodation Broken Peace Moral Force Goldstein: Success or Failure? Terenius: The Optional Co-Discoverer Terenius on the Multiple Overall Generosity A Note on the Priority Issues 7. Third Parties as Bystanders Interviews Involvement Issues Importance Credit-Seeking Behavior Snyder's Style Self-Criticism The Structure of Ambivalence 8. Recognition News Items Review Literature Experimental Literature Summary 9. Multiple Discovery and Social Control The Identity of the Discovery Sociological Ambivalence Justice Third Party Roles Social Control in Science Appendices A. Interviews B. Contents of the Discovery Papers C. Letter of Introduction 1 D. Letter of Introduction 2 E. Description of Citing Article Data Base Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Susan E. Cozzens is Assistant Professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Review :
"The study produces significant advances in the understanding of the social structure and the norms of science. Science is a vital component of modern society, and it is therefore highly important that a wide public understand not only the outputs of science but the social processes related to the making of discoveries. It is not enough to communicate that scientists are 'human' (i.e., competitive or vulnerable or dishonest); it is necessary to appreciate the social system in which they operate. This book contributes such insight. Cozzens has excellent command of the literature on scientific discovery and takes imaginative advantage of her familiarity with the relatively new method of citation analysis." — Elinor G. Barber, Institute of International Education "This book will be standard reading for all sociologists who are keen on contemporary science studies." — Dr. Augustine Brannigan, University of Calgary