Section: About
Science and technology pervade all aspects of modern life. Think of the impact of vaccines, mobile phones, jet travel or the internet on how we interact with one another and understand own place in society. How have theories of natural selection, advances in quantum physics or new medical theories and technologies changed the way we see ourselves? How have the politics of climate change influenced the science of climate change? Scholars in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies tackle such thorny issues. We seek to answer the big questions about how societies both influence and are influenced by science, medicine and technology.
The University of Edinburgh has an international reputation in all aspects of the study of science, technology and innovation in society. With the founding of the Science Studies Unit in 1964, it is here that pioneering work was done in the sociology of scientific knowledge. Likewise, Edinburgh has been the home for ground-breaking studies of the shaping of technology by cultural, economic, political and organisational factors. The founding of the Research Centre for Social Sciences (RCSS) in 1984 produced innovative and interdisciplinary research, public policy advice and consultancy on the socio-economic aspects of technology and innovation. Since 2002 the Subject Group has also provided a base for Innogen, the ESRC Centre for Social and Economic Research on Innovation, about which more can be learned here.
In the Subject Group we continue a tradition of excellence. Edinburgh scholars are working around the globe on the social and historical aspects of a range of issues including, bioscience, genomics, history of science and medicine, psychiatry, emerging technologies and innovation, information and communication technologies, science and technology policy, international development and artificial biology. You are welcome to learn more about the subject group by exploring our many activities and staff profiles.
Further Reading:
John Henry, "Historical and other studies of science, technology and medicine in the University of Edinburgh", Notes and Records of the Royal Society 62.2 (2008), pp. 223-235.
This page was published on 18 September 2009