S. Barry Barnes (born 27 March 1943) was Professor of

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

at the

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

. Barnes worked at the 'Science Studies Unit' at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

with

David Bloor David Bloor (; born 1942) is a British sociologist. He is a professor in, and a former director of, the Science Studies Unit at the University of Edinburgh. He is a key figure in the Edinburgh school and played a major role in the development ...

from the 1970s through the early 1990s, where they developed the strong programme in the

Sociology of Scientific Knowledge The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing with "the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity." The sociolog ...

. He moved to the sociology department in Exeter in 1992. Barnes is known for his naturalistic approach to science, a view elaborated in his book ''Scientific Knowledge and Sociological Theory'' (1974). He advocated a post- Kuhnian approach to scientific knowledge, and suggested that philosophers, historians and other researchers study scientific practice in a variety of fields as cultural traditions whose development could be given causal explanations. In this view conceptual change in normal science is a process unfolding through expert debate and negotiation. This latter perspective was developed in ''T. S. Kuhn and Social Science'' (1982).

Main works

* ''Scientific Knowledge and Sociological Theory'', London ; Boston : Routledge and K. Paul, 1974. * ''Interests and the growth of knowledge'', London ; Boston : Routledge and K. Paul, 1977. * with

Steven Shapin Steven Shapin (born 1943) is an American historian and sociologist of science. He is the Franklin L. Ford Research Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. He is considered one of the earliest scholars on the sociology of scienti ...

(ed.), ''Natural order: historical studies of scientific culture'', Beverly Hills, Calif ; London : Sage Publications, 1979. * with David Edge (ed.), ''Science in context : readings in the sociology of science'', Milton Keynes : Open University Press, 1982. * ''T. S. Kuhn and Social Science'' (Traditions in Social Theory), * ''About science'', Oxford : Basil Blackwell, 1985. * ''The Nature of power'', Cambridge : Polity, 1988. * ''Grays Thurrock district : a pictorial history'', Chichester : Phillimore, 1988 ; 1991. * ''The Elements of social theory'', London : UCL Press, 1995. * with

& John Henry, ''Scientific knowledge : a sociological analysis'', Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Selected articles

* ''On the Conventional Character of Knowledge and Cognition'' in: Philosophy of the Social Sciences 11/3, 1981, pp. 303–333- * ''Relativism, Rationalism and the Sociology of Knowledge'' (with David Bloor) in: Hollis, M./Lukes, S. (ed.): Rationality and Relativism, Cambridge (Mass.), MIT Press, 1982, pp. 21–47. * ''On the Extensions of Concepts and the Growth of Knowledge'' in:

Sociological Review ''The Sociological Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of sociology, including anthropology, criminology, philosophy, education, gender, medicine, and organization. The journal is published by SAGE Public ...

30/1, 1982, pp. 23–45. * ''Relativism as a Completion of the Scientific Project'' in: Schantz, R./Seidel, M. (ed.): The Problem of Relativism in the Sociology of (Scientific) Knowledge, Frankfurt, ontos, 2011, pp. 23–39.

References

* M. Mazzotti (ed.), ''Knowledge as Social Order. Rethinking the Sociology of Barry Barnes''. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008.

External links

Official page
Living people Sociologists of science British sociologists Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Exeter 1943 births {{UK-sociologist-stub