This article examines a scientific controversy that raged for twenty years in physical organic chemistry during the second half of the twentieth century. After explaining what was at stake in the non-classical ion debate, I attempt---by examining the methodological reflections of some of the participants---a partial explanation of what sustained this controversy, particularly during its early stages. Instead of suggesting a breakdown of scientific method or the unavoidable historical contingency of scientific development, the endurance of this controversy instead reveals the heuristic and pragmatic character of many of the explanations and predictions generated by theoretical organic chemistry. The results in this case are used to suggest a new role for the study of scientific controversies in revealing the economics of scientific inquiry.
...More
Article
Dietrich, Michael R.;
Skipper, Robert A., Jr.;
(2007)
Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientific Controversy: The Case of the Molecular Clock
(/isis/citation/CBB000830784/)
Book
Schmitt, Michael;
(2013)
From Taxonomy to Phylogenetics: Life and Work of Willi Hennig
(/isis/citation/CBB001321148/)
Article
Tabea Cornel;
(2021)
Contested Numbers: The failed negotiation of objective statistics in a methodological review of Kinsey et al.’s sex research
(/isis/citation/CBB208534726/)
Article
Juan Manuel Garrido Wainer;
Juan Felipe Espinosa;
Natalia Hirmas;
Nicolás Trujillo;
(2020)
Free-viewing as experimental system to test the Temporal Correlation Hypothesis: A case of theory-generative experimental practice
(/isis/citation/CBB253993764/)
Book
Ben-Ari, Moti;
(2005)
Just a Theory: Exploring the Nature of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB000650528/)
Article
Hitchcock, Christopher;
Sober, Elliott;
(2004)
Prediction versus Accommodation and the Risk of Overfitting
(/isis/citation/CBB000410745/)
Essay Review
Sven Widmalm;
(2016)
The Practice Turn in Science Studies: Past and Present
(/isis/citation/CBB377264692/)
Article
Hedin, Lars O.;
(2012)
F. Herbert Bormann (1922--2012)
(/isis/citation/CBB001320470/)
Article
Jan Baedke;
Christina Brandt;
(2022)
Between the Wars, Facing a Scientific Crisis: The Theoretical and Methodological Bottleneck of Interwar Biology
(/isis/citation/CBB174255369/)
Chapter
Lanska, Douglas J.;
Lanska, Joseph T.;
(2007)
Franz Anton Mesmer and the Rise and Fall of Animal Magnetism: Dramatic Cures, Controversy, and Ultimately a Triumph for the Scientific Method
(/isis/citation/CBB001032162/)
Article
Eberhart, Mark;
Travis, Jones;
(2013)
The Two Faces of Chemistry: Can They Be Reconciled?
(/isis/citation/CBB001321114/)
Article
Hull, David L.;
(2001)
The Success of Science and Social Norms
(/isis/citation/CBB000770074/)
Chapter
Carsten Reinhardt;
(2016)
Experimental Turnaround, 360°: The Essential Kuhn Circle
(/isis/citation/CBB569537527/)
Article
Boyce, Kenneth;
(2014)
On the Equivalence of Goodman's and Hempel's Paradoxes
(/isis/citation/CBB001320769/)
Book
Sherrie L. Lyons;
(2020)
From Cells to Organisms: Re-envisioning Cell Theory
(/isis/citation/CBB991006382/)
Article
George Borg;
(2020)
On 'the application of science to science itself:' Chemistry, instruments, and the scientific labor process
(/isis/citation/CBB166777080/)
Article
Eli I. Lichtenstein;
(2021)
(Mis)Understanding scientific disagreement: Success versus pursuit-worthiness in theory choice
(/isis/citation/CBB459964165/)
Book
Dascal, Marcelo;
Boantza, Victor D.;
(2011)
Controversies within the Scientific Revolution
(/isis/citation/CBB001250495/)
Book
Hakob Barseghyan;
(2015)
The Laws of Scientific Change
(/isis/citation/CBB993218810/)
Article
Radin Dardashti;
(2021)
No-go Theorems: What Are They Good For?
(/isis/citation/CBB827243285/)
Be the first to comment!