The Golem at Large

Collins and Pinch reprise the case study format of their previous coauthored book (The Golem: What You Should Know About Science) and, once again, it works. Recapitulating the space shuttle Challenger explosion and six other major technological tragedies and disputes of our era, they illuminate what they aptly call ""the boundaries of expertise."" Among the other subjects the authors use to illustrate how the best-laid plans can go wrong are the Patriot anti-missile system, the Chernobyl disaster and early medical treatments for AIDS. Their book is worthy of note not only for its clear analysis of how science can come up short when applied outside the laboratory but for its honest appraisal of the fallibility of technology's gatekeepers. But Collins and Pinch offer much more: a reasonable, surprisingly entertaining rebuttal of both Panglossian technophiles and Luddite technophobes. In so doing, they present themselves as advocates for and, more impressively, exemplars of a sane and realistic view of technology and its role in society. Four line diagrams. (Dec.) FYI: The Golem at Large will be published simultaneously with Cambridge's second edition, in paperback, of The Golem, containing an afterword responding to the book's critics.