The Scientists’ Role and Medical Innovations

Abstract

The chapter focuses on medicine and argues against the hasty dismissal of much of the classic sociology of science by a new generation of scholars. Ben-David tied the diffusion of disciplinary thought and innovation to his concept of the scientist’s role. Bacteriology and psychoanalysis served as examples. In both cases, a ‘role-hybridization’ was said to be instrumental in the move from the original disciplinary field to the new focus. The chapter explores this diffusion process on the basis of two examples: screening for cancer; and prenatal diagnosis. In both innovations, the impetus to develop these novelties did not originate with a specific group of scholars or professionals—and specifically not in their intent to transcend a constricting ‘role’, as Ben-David might have suggested. Rather the innovations came into being as the result of an interplay of various stakeholders.