Article ID: CBB001211965

Revisiting “Weinberg's Choice”: Classic Tensions in the Concept of Scientific Merit (2012)

unapi

Hellström, Tomas (Author)
Jacob, Merle (Author)


Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy
Volume: 50, no. 3
Issue: 3
Pages: 381-396


Publication Date: 2012
Edition Details: Part of a special issue, “Minerva - 50 Years Reflecting on Science in Society.”
Language: English

Alvin Weinberg's classic and much debated two articles in Minerva, Criteria for Scientific Choice (1963) and Criteria for Scientific Choice II -- The Two Cultures (1964), represent two of the first and most important attempts to create a meta-discourse about priority setting in science policy, and many of the points advanced remain relevant. The goal of this paper is to elaborate on the relevance of some of Weinberg's original arguments to priority setting today. We have singled out four issues for attention: The tension between scientific and institutional choice, the assumptions behind the triad of scientific, technological and social merit, the elusive `externality from size' argument for funding promoted by Weinberg, and finally the problems involved in the idea of basic science as an `overhead cost' for applied science, and applied science as an `overhead' on a sectoral mission. These four issues will be elaborated from a policy perspective and connected to present day challenges for science and technology policy.

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Article Weingart, Peter (2012) Minerva---50 Years Reflecting on Science in Society. Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy (pp. 255-259). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001211965/

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Authors & Contributors
Kurtulmus, A Faik
Irzik, Gürol
Hess, David J.
Kaldewey, David
Cozzoli, Daniele
Pan-Montojo, Juan
Concepts
Science and politics
Public policy
Science and society
Research
Research institutes; research stations
Technology and society
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
20th century, early
20th century, late
19th century
Places
Sweden
Spain
Europe
China
Austria
Great Britain
Institutions
Science Society of China
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