A Multimedia Database Model for STS

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Dr. Crane is undertaking a case study of how electronic tools can not only help researchers in Science and Technology Studies perform traditional tasks more effectively, but can also make possible non- traditional avenues of inquiry and can even open up bodies of evidence to whole new groups. The case study he is using as a model for the this field is Greek science. He and his colleagues aim to make more tractable and comprehensible to practicing scientists and general historians the complexities of what is a very different, in many ways alien, culture. Conversely, the scientific issues are often equally obscure to those who are most familiar with the culture. They plan to exploit images, animations, notes, and the general flexibility of the electronic environment so that the cultural experts will be better able to come to grips with the technical issues of such fields as biology, astronomy, and mathematics. They are thus designing an environment that integrates more fully and naturally scientific and humanistic issues. By showing how science can be made accessible to humanists and how the cultural context can be made accessible and understandable to scientists, Dr. Crane promises to revolutionize STS. The aim is ultimately to transform the sources for Greek science into a dynamic, readily updatable networked resource open to any researcher on the electronic network.