Name Aant Elzinga | ||
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Books Einstein's Nobel Prize: A Glimpse Behind Closed Doors : the Archival Evidence | ||
Aant Elzinga (born 22 November 1937, Bolsward) is professor emeritus at the University of Gothenburg. In 1984 he set up a unit for science and technology foresight at the Science Council of Canada. From 1991-1997 he was president of the European Association of Science and Technology Studies. Member of Kungliga Vetenskaps- och Vitterhets-Samhället in Gothenburg and affiliated with the Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science at Gothenburg University. Founding member of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research's (or SCAR's) Action group for history of Antarctic science. Member of International Advisory Board of the Netherlands Research Graduate School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture (WTMC)
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Biography
Studied theoretical physics and applied mathematics, B.A. (1960)University of Western Ontario, history and philosophy of science MSc (1964) University College London (UCL), Fil Lic (1968) and Fil Dr (1971) vetenskapsteori (theory of science and research) at Gothenburg University. Doctoral dissertation on a research program in early modern physics with reference to the work of the Dutch 17th-century physicist, mathematician and astronomer Christiaan Huygens. Has been guest researcher at the Collegium Helveticum of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, and a Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences (SCASSS), Uppsala University.
Writing
Elzinga has written on science policy from both a conceptual-critical and a practical point of view. Introduced (in 1985) the concept of "epistemic drift". The latter denotes a shift from emphasis on internal quality control to external relevance assessments of research in contexts of strong political and commercial pressures. Analysis builds on studies regarding tensions existing between objectivity and partisanship in research as a human activity and its forms of institutionalization in society.
A recent book (2006) was on Albert Einstein's bestowal of the Nobel prize. Elzinga combines history, philosophy, and the politics of science, giving science policy studies a broader, reflexive and more critical framework. Together with Andrew Jamison (1995) written on the concept of "policy cultures", referring to goals and norms associated with four different types of stakeholder groups - academic, commercial, bureaucratic and civil society. Critical studies on the co-production of scientific and social orders also dealt with evaluation procedures used by international development agencies, the interplay of internationalism and science and a brief history of Unesco.
Polar research
Since 1986 specialized in the history and politics of polar research in Antarctica. Also concerned with "climate as research and politics". Introduced the thesis that the International Geophysical Year (IGY 1957/58) and the political regime that followed upon it (i.e., the Antarctic Treaty System) was marked by geopolitical rivalry, no longer in the form of imperialist conflict but by translation of national political agendas into scientific competition and cooperation between participant countries, a “sublimation of politics in science”. Thus one can speak of the construction of Antarctica as a continent by and for science. In connection with the Fourth International Polar Year (2007–2009) worked on the history of the four international polar years to highlight changing foci, conditions of research, logistics and epistemological characteristics over the past 125 years.