Beach Haven

THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS
4th Edition
By Thomas S. Kuhn
The University of Chicago Press, 2012, 217 pages

In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (original 1962) Thomas Kuhn sheds doubt on the cumulative nature of scientific knowledge, and offers an alternative explanation of how scientists’ views change over time. Kuhn describes the source of his inspiration as coming from historiographic cyclical patterns leading up to and following major shifts, or “extraordinary episodes” (p.6), in scientific thought; noting the pattern as normal science, puzzle-solving, an established paradigm, discovery of anomalies, crisis, and revolution. The author’s “most fundamental objective is to urge a change in the perception and evaluation of familiar data” (p. xliii), here he is referring to historiographical data, in order to advocate a “reorientation” (ibid) of how we understand the nature of scientific change.

Kuhn appeals to both historians of science, and communities of scientists, in an effort to show value in both disciplines, and how the ideas of each influences the other. His argument is strengthened through use of multiple specific examples of scientific revolutions (extraordinary episodes both large and small) to show how events followed the proposed historic pattern.

The author points to weaknesses in his argument in a postscript added to the 1969 edition, having ignored other influences on paradigms (which he referred to as a 'disciplinary matrix') such as metaphysics, values, and shared commitment (p. 185-186). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions has become canon in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), as it raises significant questions in history, sociology, philosophy, and policy; all core concerns in the STS discipline.

​LEFT FOR DEAD
MY JOURNEY HOME FROM EVEREST
By Beck Weathers and Stephen G. Michaud
Bantam Books, 2015, 292 pages
Review by Michael Beach
 
At first one could assume this was another account of the tragedy that has been documented in a number of works including books and movies. Although the authors reference occurrences of the 1996 Everest attempt, this book focuses more about how mountaineering, and other obsessions, took Weathers away from his home and family. As a result, he nearly lost his family. On Everest he nearly lost his life. He did lose physical parts of himself. He documents both the physical rescue and recovery, as well has the changes he made in himself to become a part of his family again. Although there is adventure in the book, this is more a self-assessment and philosophical journey.
 
Beck Weathers was among climbers from several adventure tour organizations who paid for guides to help them summit Everest. Unfortunately, a series of physical problems kept him from reaching the goal. Worse, bad weather swept in on summit day and trapped many of the climbers out in the open, including Weathers. He and several other climbers were eventually left behind as other climbers felt unable to help them, and judged that helping them back to camp would not stop the inevitable. Death did come to the other stranded climbers around Weathers, but for reasons even he does not understand, he wondered alone, blind, and severely frost bitten eventually stumbling into camp.
 
Having read a few of the other accounts, this telling adds perspective. It is also very applicable to many who obsessively take on goal achievement as a method to stave off depression. That is Beck Weathers’ assessment of himself. His family suffered to the point that his marriage was on the brink of divorce. Coming home physically after Everest did not stop the potential of divorce. What saved his family was his willingness to understand the real issues he faced psychologically and get help in approaching something like normalcy in himself. He had to take this step first before he could work with his wife to reconstitute the family unit. Though this reviewer was not as obsessed as the primary author, yet some of those same tendencies are noted, making this work of the author’s introspection one also for this reader.

SPACESHIP IN THE DESERT
ENERGY, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND URBAN DESIGN IN ABU DHABI
By Gökçe Günel
Duke University Press, 2019, 256 pages
Reviewed by Michael Beach

Success or Failure?


This book recounts the history of an entire community created in the deserts of Abu Dhabi based on renewable energy approaches. The idea was to create a campus in which new energy technologies could develop to help the country become less dependent on petroleum revenue. The name of the new city is Masdar.

Günel notes how Bruno Latour referred to technology as a system (p.139). Where most of us see only the portion we interact with, that portion is supported by an entire network of interconnected parts. For example, at Masdar people in general noted the pod cars of the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system as if they were one and the same (p.142). In fact, the pod cars are of no worth without the supporting system known as the undercroft, the controlling software, and an army of maintenance crew, often made up of workers from Asia. These workers were not allowed to live in the city, nor even use the pod cars once up and running.


How does one describe project success or failure? Exactly! The fact that this is even a question points to how criteria (official and unofficial) varies with every beholder’s eye. 


The PRT was not successful in that it could not handle large numbers of passengers efficiently. It was not cost effective. The undercroft requirement caused increased indirect expenses for the buildings which had to be lifted by 20 feet to accommodate the required space. One could simply walk the short distance the PRT served. It went not faster than a bicycle. Eventually, when a new executive took over the Masdar facility, the PRT was cancelled.


Despite the pessimistic view, others saw how people who came to visit the facility lined up to ride the PRT despite the availability of a shuttle bus during large events. Even jaded academics who pointed out issues still used the system because it was fun, making functionality a secondary consideration (p.142).


Günel makes the point of how the Masdar PRT is just one in a string of PRT projects that all end essentially the same. Although the system in West Virginia is still in use, it does so with a $120M price tag and an annual cost of $5M, and has stayed essentially small scale. It only goes between  West Virginia University (WVU) campuses and downtown Morgantown. 


In his 1994 book  The Anti-Politics Machine: “Development,” Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho, Jame Ferguson argues whether or not original project goals are realized, something is accomplished. The project goals represent an entry point of development efforts, but whatever effect comes about, stakeholders think of some outcomes as desirable, and others as undesirable.