Reflections about the embeddedness of science, technology and society

Abstract

This paper aims to conceptualize science and technology and characterize the relationship between them. Based on Lacey, science is defined as a pattern of rationality that explains and develops technology. From the understanding of this duplicity (explanation and development) in the relationship between science and technology it is argued that both have an important and necessary insertion in the social processes and values. At the same time science is influenced by these processes, it influences the society characterizing what Granovetter calls embeddedness of a sphere of social life understood as autonomous - the science - in society. The power of this pattern of rationality configured in the relationship between science and technology is exactly the link between social values and the related cognitive values produced by this form of knowledge. In order to explore this thesis an illustrative case is proposed: the large scale experiment of interaction of biosphere-atmosphere in Amazonia - LBA. To analyze it a specific theoretical-methodological perspective on science and technics was chosen, that of Bruno Latour. The discussion explored in this paper lies in the frontier of sociology and philosophy of science.