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Law and science now constitute two institutions of potentially competing authority in American society. Sociologist Patty Ewick has been investigating the place of law in the space of science. |
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Regulating Frankenstein
Professor Patricia Ewick's research
For two centuries, Victor Frankenstein has personified society's fear of the scientist as a person who, in attempting to master the powerful forces of nature, endangers others and strays beyond the reach of moral or governmental authority. Frankenstein attempted to "play god" by creating another human being in his secret laboratory. His creator, Mary Shelley*, wrote her novel at a time (1818) when the scientific method and its discoveries were providing an increasingly serious challenge to religion's revealed truth.
Defining boundaries
Over the course of recent history, science, secular law and religion have struggled to define areas of appropriate jurisdiction. In a recent paper, sociologists Patricia Ewick and Susan Silbey** contend that, in today's United States, science and law have evolved a mutual understanding that ascribes to each an area of authority upon which the other does not infringe. Unlike those of previous eras, today's American legal system concedes that it does not have the authority to control the knowledge that science produces, or what science can investigate. For its part, science concedes to the legal system authority to protect individual rights and the public welfare, and to insure workplace safety.
Investigating the intersection of law and science
The intersection of law and science interests Ewick and Silbey as sociologists because law and science now constitute two institutions of potentially competing authority in American society. To explore this tension and how it has been resolved, they conducted a study of two world-class scientific research institutes in Massachusetts using a variety of data-gathering methods, including
- Interviewing the scientists and related personnel,
- Observing scientists working in their laboratories,
- Attending meetings and reviewing minutes of meetings, and
- Studying documents relating to lab safety standards, hiring practices, and blueprints.
Law regulates scientific space
Ewick and Silbey were surprised that the scientists they interviewed seemed almost oblivious to the presence of the law in their work. Ewick and Silbey concluded that the law's influence is not obvious because it largely limits its authority to the space in which scientists conduct their work. They maintain that the legal regulation of space is an indirect way of regulating human behavior in the modern scientific laboratory.
The authors noted that signage, personnel capacity, and the location of equipment, facilities and activities are aspects of the scientific workspace that are regulated by law. If Frankenstein were working today, his scientific laboratory would have to be in compliance with a wide range of enforceable regulations. For example,
- While in the laboratory, he might be required to wear protective clothing.
- An eyewash station and decontaminating shower would be available in the laboratory.
- Information (for example, material safety data sheets) would be filed on site detailing the composition of and hazards associated with all chemicals.
- Containers would be clearly labeled.
- Specific procedures would be in place relating to the disposal of harmful chemicals.
- Signs would be posted on storage areas containing dangerous materials and equipment.
- Dangerous procedures would be confined to specially equipped and protected locations.
- Government inspectors (OSHA) would make unannounced visits to ensure compliance with all regulations.
Changing scientific practice
Ewick and Sibley point out that science today is practiced differently from the way it was in the past. The scientists of the Enlightenment (17th and 18th centuries) were private individuals who usually had the leisure and means to conduct and finance their investigations, often in the privacy of their homes. Nowadays, scientists usually conduct their investigations in laboratories created especially for that purpose and funded from a variety of sources. Their discoveries are published in journals accessible (although perhaps not understandable!) by the general public, and subject to review and critique by fellow scientists. The authors maintain that this shift in the way science is practiced contributed to a view of the scientific lab as a place in which legal regulation was appropriate.
* Englishwoman Mary Shelley published her novel Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus, when she was only 20. It caused a sensation among the reading public. Many dramatizations have been produced since then, first on the stage, and then on film.
** of Wellesley College
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Additional Resources
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Scientists often maintain "offices" in labs, increas- ing their exposure to any dangers present. |
Lab access is controlled by warning signs and locks. |
The use of hazardous materials is often confined to "clean" work stations. |
An example of a lab furnished with standardized components. |
Each research group can occupy its own standardly equipped bay. |
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