ISSTI People
Prof David Bloor
Professor of Sociology of Science
Science Studies Unit
David Bloor trained in philosophy and mathematics. He carried out research at Cambridge in the philosophy of science before taking a degree there in psychology; he has an Edinburgh doctorate in psychology. He has written widely on the Kuhn/Popper debate, the cognitive functions of metaphor, and on the sociology of scientific knowledge and Wittgenstein's philosophy. He is author of Knowledge and Social Imagery (Routledge, 1976; 2nd edition Chicago University Press, 1991); Wittgenstein: A Social Theory of Knowledge (Macmillan and Columbia, 1983); and co-author (with Barry Barnes and John Henry) of Scientific Knowledge: A Sociological Analysis (Athlone and Chicago University Press, 1996). He has recently published a second book on the later philosophy of Wittgenstein, called Wittgenstein: Rules and Institutions (Routledge, 1997).
David Bloor is interested in all aspects of the sociology of scientific knowledge, and in the philosophy of Wittgenstein. More specifically, his current research is concerned with the history of aerodynamics and fluid dynamics. From the beginning of aviation, through the period of WWI and up until around 1925, British and German experts disagreed about the best way to account for the lift provided by an aircraft wing. His current research aims to document, and if possible explain, this divergence of approach and understanding. It is an episode that involved some of the leading physicists of the period.
Homepage>>
Keywords: Philisophy of Science;Science;Sociology of Scientific Knowledge