Context and situation always matter in both human and animal lives.
Unique insights can be gleaned from conducting scientific studies from
within human communities and animal habitats. Inside Science is a
novel treatment of this distinctive mode of fieldwork. Robert E. Kohler
illuminates these resident practices through close analyses of classic
studies: of Trobriand Islanders, Chicago hobos, corner boys in Boston's
North End, Jane Goodall's chimpanzees of the Gombe Stream Reserve, and
more. Intensive firsthand observation; a preference for generalizing
from observed particulars, rather than from universal principles; and an
ultimate framing of their results in narrative form characterize these
inside stories from the field.
Resident observing takes place across a range of sciences, from
anthropology and sociology to primatology, wildlife ecology, and beyond.
What makes it special, Kohler argues, is the direct access it affords
scientists to the contexts in which their subjects live and act. These
scientists understand their subjects not by keeping their distance but
by living among them and engaging with them in ways large and small.
This approach also demonstrates how science and everyday life--often
assumed to be different and separate ways of knowing--are in fact
overlapping aspects of the human experience. This story-driven
exploration is perfect for historians, sociologists, and philosophers
who want to know how scientists go about making robust knowledge of
nature and society.
