science

The New Politics of Science

The New Politics of Science is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The New Politics of Science rather than just read about it. In short: The New Politics of Science is a 1984 book by David Dickson. The book is about the political relationships which affect science funding.

Key takeaways

The New Politics of Science belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The New Politics of Science to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The New Politics of Science from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The New Politics of Science is a 1984 book by David Dickson. The book is about the political relationships which affect science funding. Dickson argues that decisions about science are becoming concentrated in a closed circle of corporate, banking, and military leaders and that America's scientific enterprise is being steadily removed from public decision-making. Dickson was Washington correspondent for the British weekly journal Nature and European correspondent for the journal Science.

See also List of books about the politics of science

References

External links The Politics of Science

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The New Politics of Science

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The New Politics of Science claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The New Politics of Science before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The New Politics of Science ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The New Politics of Science

In research: The New Politics of Science appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The New Politics of Science in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The New Politics of Science is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1984 non-fiction books, Books about the politics of science, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The New Politics of Science outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The New Politics of Science in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The New Politics of Science means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The New Politics of Science out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The New Politics of Science in simple terms?

The New Politics of Science is a 1984 book by David Dickson. The book is about the political relationships which affect science funding.

Why does The New Politics of Science matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The New Politics of Science?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The New Politics of Science.