Science of Science

Discussion

(focused on the role of John Bernal)

Yong Zhao et al.:

“The science of science, literally meaning science connoisseurship or science studies (Kokowski, 2015) can be defined as the use of scientific methodology to study science itself. For example, one can study how research is done and where improvements can be made. The science of science can also be considered as the self-consciousness of science.

Polish scholars were the first to recognize a need for a separate field concerned with science-of-science problems (Walentynowicz, 1982). In 1925, the Polish sociologist Znaniecki introduced the term naukoznawstwo (science of science or science studies) in his study Przedmiot i zadania nauki o wiedzy (Subject and tasks of the science of knowledge). Ten years later M. Ossowska and S. Ossowski wrote another article, entitled Nauka o nauce (The science of science) in Polish, in which they defined the scope and formulated the program of science-of-science research. These authors identified three core disciplines that constitute the scientific study of science: epistemology and philosophy of science, psychology of scientific creativity, and the anthropology or sociology of science.

The emergence of the science of science, as a new scientific discipline, is generally associated with J. D. Bernal’s book The social function of science first published in 1939 (Goldsmith & Mackay, 1964). The book’s theme was summarized in its subtitle: “What science does and what science could do.” In his later essay “Towards a science of science,” coauthored with Mackay, Bernal took D. J. de Solla Price’s definition as a general indication of the discipline: “the history, philosophy, sociology, psychology, economics, political science and operations research (etc.) of science, technology, and medicine (etc.).” He also identified some specific research subjects in the science of science: statistical attacks, detailed study of critical cases, systems research, experimental approaches, and classification. Meanwhile he separated the discipline into pure and applied branches (Bernal & Mackay, 1966). The first, descriptive and analytic in nature, asks “How do science and the scientist work?” and the second, normative and synthetic in nature, asks “How can science be applied to the needs of human society?” Bernal considered that the science of science must be a proper science with special characteristics. There must be observation, speculation, and experiment or operational research. Thus, unlike Polish researchers in the history, philosophy and sociology of science, who approached science-of-science issues usually with a humanistic methodology, Bernal brought measurement techniques from statistics to the analysis of science (Price, 1964). He also pointed out emphatically that science is both affecting and being affected by the social changes of its time. He thought that “this is a social and economic rather than a philosophical inquiry” (Bernal, 1939).

Bernal is regarded as the founding father of the science of science (Price, 1964). Since 1981, to honor Bernal and his pioneering work in the science of science, the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) awards the Bernal Prize annually to scholars who have made a distinguished contribution to the field. In fact, the thoughts of many famous scholars can be traced back to the influence of, or inspiration by, Bernal. The list of such scholars includes the economist Christopher Freeman; the historian and physicist Mintomo Yuasa; and the biochemist, historian, and sinologist Joseph Needham. In particular, Derek de Solla Price, who was the first recipient of the Bernal Award, noted in his acceptance speech that his work in scientometrics1 was partly inspired by Bernal. Furthermore, Eugene Garfield ascertained that Bernal also helped prepare his mind for the sensitivity that led him to the field of scientific information retrieval and its milestone-like byproduct the Science Citation Index (SCI) (Garfield, 2007).”

(https://direct.mit.edu/qss/article/1/3/959/96098/The-impact-of-J-D-Bernal-s-thoughts-in-the-science)