Benoit Godin

Benoît Godin is a Professor at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Montreal. Models abound in science, technology, and society (STS) studies and in science, technology, and innovation (STI) studies. They are continually being invented, with one author developing many versions of the same model over time. At the same time, models are regularly criticized. Such is the case with the most influential model in STS-STI: the linear model of innovation. In this book, Benoît Godin examines the emergence and diffusion of the three most important conceptual models of innovation from the early twentieth century to the late 1980s: stage models, linear models, and holistic models. Godin first traces the history of the models of innovation constructed during this period, considering why these particular models came into being and what use was made of them. He then rethinks and debunks the historical narratives of models developed by theorists of innovation. Godin documents a greater diversity of thinkers and schools than in the conventional account, tracing a genealogy of models beginning with anthropologists, industrialists, and practitioners in the first half of the twentieth century to their later formalization in STS-STI. Godin suggests that a model is a conceptualization, which could be narrative, or a set of conceptualizations, or a paradigmatic perspective, often in pictorial form and reduced discursively to a simplified representation of reality. Why are so many things called models? Godin claims that model has a rhetorical function. First, a model is a symbol of “scientificity.” Second, a model travels easily among scholars and policy makers. Calling a conceptualization or narrative or perspective a model facilitates its propagation.

The History of an Idea

Models of Innovation

Innovation is everywhere. In the world of goods (technology), but also in the world of words: innovation is discussed in the scientific and technical literature, but also in the social sciences and humanities. Innovation is also a central idea in the popular imaginary, in the media and in public policy. Innovation has become the emblem of the modern society and a panacea for resolving many problems. Today, innovation is spontaneously understood as technological innovation because of its contribution to economic "progress". Yet for 2,500 years, innovation had nothing to do with economics in a positive sense. Innovation was pejorative and political. It was a contested idea in philosophy, religion, politics and social affairs. Innovation only got de-contested in the last century. This occurred gradually beginning after the French revolution. Innovation shifted from a vice to a virtue. Innovation became an instrument for achieving political and social goals. In this book, Benoît Godin lucidly examines the representations and meaning(s) of innovation over time, its diverse uses, and the contexts in which the concept emerged and changed. This history is organized around three periods or episteme: the prohibition episteme, the instrument episteme, and the value episteme.

The Idea of Innovation Over the Centuries

Innovation Contested

Jan Klimaszewski

Anthony Davies

Caroline Bourdon

E. Richard Hoebeke

Kayla I. Perry

Neville Winchester

Aleocharine beetles are among the most poorly known and difficult-to-identify groups of Coleoptera worldwide. This book presents the first comprehensive synopsis of aleocharine rove beetle species (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) from British Columbia, Canada. It is important to generate a structured inventory of species in hotspots of biodiversity like British Columbia, to provide baseline biodiversity data for monitoring species responses related to climate change. It is the first book to treat and illustrate every recorded and new species. For every species, color illustrations are provided, including color habitus and genital diagnostic structures of both sexes. Two hundred and twenty-seven valid species, including 14 new species, 16 new generic records, and 36 (excluding new species) new provincial and 6 state records, in 79 genera and 14 tribes.Tribes and subtribes are arranged in phylogenetic order as it is currently recognized, and genera and subgenera are listed alphabetically within each tribe or subtribe. Species are listed alphabetically or in species groups to better reflect their relationships. Species distribution is listed by provinces and territories in Canada and states in the United States, and the geographic origin of each species is categorized as native, Holarctic, adventive or undetermined (either adventive or Holarctic). Every species is presented with a morphological diagnosis including external and genital characters of both sexes. Collection and habitat data are presented for each species, including collecting period, and collecting methods. A list of all Canadian species with their currently known distribution in North America is presented at the end of the book.

Aleocharine Rove Beetles of British Columbia: A Hotspot of Canadian Biodiversity (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)

Governments and researchers from industrial countries have been measuring science and technology for more than seventy years. This book provides an historical examination of official science and technology statistics and indicators in Western countries and addresses the following questions: What were the main historical moments that led to the development of statistics on science and technology? What were the main socio-political stakes behind the activities of science measurement? What were the philosophical and ideological conceptions that drove measurement? What statistics and indicators were developed and how were they constructed? The first part of the book concentrates on the construction and development of science and technology statistics from 1930 to the present, the principles at work, and the vested interests and forces behind that construction. The second part analyzes to what uses statistics were put, and with how much confidence actors used statistics to document their case or to promote their political agenda.

The Mapping Cultures of Twentieth-century Genetics

Classical Genetic Research and Its Legacy

How do we objectively measure scientific activities? What proportion of economic activities should a society devote to research and development? How can public-sector and private-sector research best be directed to achieve social goals? Governments and researchers from industrial countries have been measuring science and technology for more than eighty years. This book provides the first comprehensive account of the attempts to measure science and technology activities in Western countries and the successes and shortcomings of statistical systems. Godin guides readers through the historical moments that led to the development of statistics on science and technology and also examines the socio-political dynamics behind social measurement. This enlightening account will be of interest to students and academics investigating science measurement as well as policy makers working in this burgeoning field.

1920 to the Present

Measurement and Statistics on Science and Technology

Adam Brunke

Derek S. Sikes

Mikko Pentinsaari

Reginald P. Webster

Alfred F. Newton

Arctic and Subarctic North America is particularly affected by climate change, where average temperatures are rising three times faster than the global average. Documenting the changing climate/environment of the north requires a structured knowledge of indicator taxa that reflect the effects of climate changes. Aleocharine beetles are a dominant group of forest insects, which are being used in many projects as indicators of environmental change. Many species are forest specialists restricted to certain microhabitats, some are generalists and others are open habitat specialists. They represent many ecological niches and, as such, are good indicators for many other species as well. The majority of Canadian aleocharine beetle species (about 600 spp.) has been studied and published by Jan Klimaszewski et al. (2018, 2020), mainly from southern, central, and western Canada, while the northern taxa remain poorly known and documented. The aim of the present book is to summarize the knowledge on this insect group in the Arctic and Subarctic North America and to provide a diagnostic and ecological tool for scientists studying and monitoring insects in northern Canada and Alaska. The book includes a review of the literature, information on 238 species and their habitats, taxonomic review, images, and identification tools.

Benoit Godin

Books

Your next favorite book is out there