Abstract
Gieryn has for many years been in the thick of the debates about the nature of science and the boundary between science and nonscience. His earlier books have argued for a sociological construction view of science. He does not fall, however, into the trap of a reductionist subjectivism that sees science as only a socially constructed view of the world. That is, he believes that science does provide real information about the real world rather than just an ontological reality of our own making (e.g., Von Glassersfeld). His earlier edited work, Theories of Science in Society, sketched out a number of ways in which societal beliefs, mores, and institutions shape the direction, scope, and growth of science.