Gravity's ghost and big dog : scientific discovery and social analysis in the twenty-first century / Harry Collins.

Includes bibliographies and index.

This work brings to life science's efforts to detect cosmic gravitational waves. These ripples in space-time are predicted by general relativity, and their discovery will not only demonstrate the truth of Einstein's theories but also transform astronomy. Although no gravitational wave has ever been directly detected, the previous five years have been an especially exciting period in the field. Here sociologist Harry Collins offers readers an unprecedented view of gravitational wave research and explains what it means for an analyst to do work of this kind.

Preface to the Enlarged Edition; I. Gravity's Ghost: The Equinox Event; Introduction; 1. Gravitational-Wave Detection; 2. The Equinox Event: Early Days; 3. Resistance to Discovery; 4. The Equinox Event: The Middle Period; 5. The Hidden Histories of Statistical Tests; 6. The Equinox Event: The Denouement; 7. Gravity's Ghost; Envoi. Science in the Twenty-First Century; Postscript. Thinking after Arcadia; Appendix 1. The Burst Group Checklist as of October 2007; Appendix 2. The Arcadia Abstract; II. Big Dog; Introduction. Big Dog Barks; 8. Black Holes Observed?

9. Evidential Culture and Time10. Time Slides and Trials Factor; 11. Little Dogs; 12. Discovery or Evidence; 13. Closing Arguments; 14. Twenty-Five Philosophical Decisions; 15. Arcadia. Opening the Envelope; Appendix 3. Parameter Estimation; Glossary of Tree Pseudonyms with Descriptors; III. The Trees and the Forest: Sociological and Methodological Reflection; 16. The Sociology of Knowledge and Three Waves of Science Studies; 17. Methodological Reflection: On Going Native; Appendix 4. A Sociologist Tries to Do Some Physics; Acknowledgments; References; Index.

COPYRIGHT NOT covered - Click this link to request copyright permission:

https://lib.ciu.edu/copyright-request-form