Abstract
Argument This paper examines the field network - linking together lay observers in geographically distributed locations with a central figure who aggregated their locally produced observations into more general, regional knowledge - as a historically emergent mode of knowledge production. After discussing the significance of weather knowledge as a vital domain in which field networks have operated, it describes and analyzes how a more robust and systematized weather observing field network became established and maintained on the ground in the early twentieth century. This case study, which examines two Kansas City-based local observer networks supervised by the same U.S. Weather Bureau office, demonstrates some of the key issues involved in maintaining field networks, such as the role of communications infrastructure, especially the telegraph, the procedures designed to make local observation more systematic and uniform, and the centralized, hierarchical power relations that underpinned even a low-status example of knowledge production on the periphery.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 259-280 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Science in Context |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2011 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- History and Philosophy of Science
Cite this
Lay observers, telegraph lines, and Kansas weather : The field network as a mode of knowledge production. / Vetter, Jeremy A.
In: Science in Context, Vol. 24, No. 2, 06.2011, p. 259-280.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Lay observers, telegraph lines, and Kansas weather
T2 - The field network as a mode of knowledge production
AU - Vetter, Jeremy A
PY - 2011/6
Y1 - 2011/6
N2 - Argument This paper examines the field network - linking together lay observers in geographically distributed locations with a central figure who aggregated their locally produced observations into more general, regional knowledge - as a historically emergent mode of knowledge production. After discussing the significance of weather knowledge as a vital domain in which field networks have operated, it describes and analyzes how a more robust and systematized weather observing field network became established and maintained on the ground in the early twentieth century. This case study, which examines two Kansas City-based local observer networks supervised by the same U.S. Weather Bureau office, demonstrates some of the key issues involved in maintaining field networks, such as the role of communications infrastructure, especially the telegraph, the procedures designed to make local observation more systematic and uniform, and the centralized, hierarchical power relations that underpinned even a low-status example of knowledge production on the periphery.
AB - Argument This paper examines the field network - linking together lay observers in geographically distributed locations with a central figure who aggregated their locally produced observations into more general, regional knowledge - as a historically emergent mode of knowledge production. After discussing the significance of weather knowledge as a vital domain in which field networks have operated, it describes and analyzes how a more robust and systematized weather observing field network became established and maintained on the ground in the early twentieth century. This case study, which examines two Kansas City-based local observer networks supervised by the same U.S. Weather Bureau office, demonstrates some of the key issues involved in maintaining field networks, such as the role of communications infrastructure, especially the telegraph, the procedures designed to make local observation more systematic and uniform, and the centralized, hierarchical power relations that underpinned even a low-status example of knowledge production on the periphery.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79956152641&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79956152641&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0269889711000093
DO - 10.1017/S0269889711000093
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79956152641
VL - 24
SP - 259
EP - 280
JO - Science in Context
JF - Science in Context
SN - 0269-8897
IS - 2
ER -