Skip to main content

When Did The Science Wars Start?

In their public statements, the spokespersons of both academic establishments that are now bitterly fighting the so-called science wars (science-practice and science-studies) either state explicitly or imply (incorrectly) that the conflict began less than five years ago. Examples: Science-practicer Paul R. Gross ("The So-Called Science Wars And Sociological Gravitas," The Scientist, April 28, 1997, page 8): "Only recently . . . within the last five years. . . has serious notice been taken, by

Written byTheo Theocharis
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00

In their public statements, the spokespersons of both academic establishments that are now bitterly fighting the so-called science wars (science-practice and science-studies) either state explicitly or imply (incorrectly) that the conflict began less than five years ago.

Examples: Science-practicer Paul R. Gross ("The So-Called Science Wars And Sociological Gravitas," The Scientist, April 28, 1997, page 8): "Only recently . . . within the last five years. . . has serious notice been taken, by a few scientists and other scholars, of the [anti-science in science studies] phenomenon." Science-studier Sheila Jasanoff ("Is Science Socially Constructed?", Science and Engineering Ethics, 2:263-76, 1996): "I would not have predicted five years ago that people who do science and people who study science's place in society could ever find themselves in . . . conflict."

There are on record other commentators who ought to have known better but regrettably seem to have shorter memories: For ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member?
Add The Scientist as a preferred source on Google

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

Published In

Related articles background image
August 2026 Digest cover
August 2026

Epic Fail: Sea-Monkeys Sabotage Fieldwork

When Barry Hicks set out to photograph thrombolites, thousands of unexpected visitors photobombed his underwater images.

View this Issue
Improving rAAV Production for Viral Vector Manufacturing

Improving rAAV Production for Viral Vector Manufacturing

cytiva logo
Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Miltenyi
Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Axion Biosystems
Optimizing NGS Library Preparation for Reliable Sequencing Data

Optimizing NGS Library Preparation for Reliable Sequencing Data

Covaris

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches European Newsletter Campaign with Exclusive Welcome Gifts

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches SuperNuclease ® Pro with Free Trial Program

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches Precisely Characterized Full-Length p-Tau217 Protein to Advance Next-Generation Alzheimer’s Biomarker Assay Development

A photo of a scientist placing the Resipher device on a 96-well plate.

Resipher: Continuous Live-Cell Mitochondrial Respiration Monitoring in 96-Well Plates

Lucid Scientific logo