House Built on Sand

Many at work in the field of cultural studies argue that "science is politics by other means, " insisting that scientific inquiry is profoundly shaped by ideological concerns. They base their claims on historical case studies purporting to show the systematic intrusion of sexist, racist, capitalist, colonialist, and/or professional interests into the very content of science. Not long ago physicist Alan Sokal poked fun at these claims by foisting a sly parody on the unwitting editors of the cultural studies journal Social Text, touching off a remarkable torrent of editorials, articles, and heated classroom and Internet discussion. A House Built on Sand picks up where Sokal left off. In a joint effort between scholars from the "two cultures" of science and the humanities, this volume offers devastating criticism of case studies intended to demonstrate that scientific results tell us more about social context than they do about the natural world. The volume concludes by detailing the negative effects of cultural studies myths on education, science journalism, and public policy. Technology scholar Meera Nanda traces the reactionary impact of postcolonial theory on the politics of development in India. Noretta Koertge, a philosopher of science and the volume's editor, reveals how efforts to improve science literacy in the United States are being subverted by uncritical acceptance of postmodernist accounts of science.