What Makes a Failure? Designing a New National Telescope, 1975-1984
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4022845 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrick Mccray |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 265-291 |
| Publication date | 2001-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Technology and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0040-165X • E-ISSN: 1097-3729 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/tech.2001.0076 |
| OpenAlex | W1984684361 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 6 |
For an expert community, choosing the design of a new technology is not as simple as running a cost-benefit analysis on the available options. During the decision-making process, members of the communities involved learn what is feasible, educate each other, and articulate their priorities as they move toward a solution. 1 Historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and policy makers have begun to produce a body of literature that investigates the process and motives at work when a scientific or technological community wrestles with an important project's early stages. During the 1970s and 1980s, American astronomers, engineers, and science administrators formed such a decision-making community as they debated the design and use of larger telescopes, including a new national telescope. They balanced science goals against technological possibilities and they weighed the intellectual well-being of the entire astronomy community against the desires of individuals and institutions. In the end, they made perhaps the toughest choice of all: not to build. Did that decision signal [End Page 265] failure? A closer look suggests otherwise, that the ultimate success or failure of a big technological project must be judged on more than whether or not it is ever actually built
Astronomy · Engineering ethics · Epistemology · Physics · Political science · Process (computing) · Public relations · Simple (philosophy) · Sociology · Telescope · Work (physics) · Computer Science · Engineering · History and Developments in Astronomy · Mechanical Engineering · Research, Science, and Academia · Space exploration and regulation
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2005 - 2024 (20) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |