Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists by Sharon Traweek (PDF)

Description

The unique breed of particle physicists constitutes a community of sophisticated mythmakers―explicators of the nature of matter who forever alter our views of space and time. But who are these people? What is their world really like? Sharon Traweek, a bold and original observer of culture, opens the door to this unusual domain and offers us a glimpse into the inner sanctum.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐One of the first ethnographies of scientists and scientific work, Traweek’s monograph is an essential starting point for any social scientist interested in an ethnographic approach to scientists; one of the first to suggest that scientists could have “culture” removed from other allegiances.

⭐A classic and must read for anyone interesting in the culture of science in general and physics in particular.

⭐This is an unique book on ethnographies in laboratories. Specially because Traweek do a cross-national comparison between Japanese and American research laboratories ans scientists.

⭐I read a review of this book and it sounded interesting, so eventually I bought it. The idea seemed good – study the community of physicists as a subculture of its own. And this book has its moments. Unfortunately, it was a bit too dry for my tastes. Traweek’s habit of not giving names to the people she talks about and referring to everything in incredibly generic terms can be very irritating. I assume that this is some sort of anthropological or ethnographic practice – however, I’m not sure if this book should have been cast so heavily in the scholarly mode of anthropology. Parts of this book I skipped over because it seemed too dry. However, it’s interesting to hear about the distinctions between the different kinds of physicists, the educational system that they were taught in, and the like. Looking back, I probably should not have read this book in one sitting, short as it is. Maybe my attention span just isn’t long enough. But it still offers some interesting insights.

⭐If you have ever been around physicists, you will recognise the characters and offices described in this book. The familiar sexism and arrogance of physicists are described honestly, without any shame or apology on their part. The book may be a little dated, but it illuminates the special world in which physicists live and work.

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