Here Firestein means by "ignorance" (in his own words) "a particular
condition of knowledge: the absence of fact, understanding, insight,
or clarity about something. . . . . . This is knowledgeable
ignorance, perceptive ignorance, insightful ignorance." To most
scientists Firestein's "ignorance" is simply "stupidity" - see e.g.,
the signature quotes.
My own three decades worth of experience as a solid-state physicist
is consistent with Firestein's thesis that "ignorance" (as defined
above and called by scientists "stupidity") drives science - see
e.g., "Early History of High Field Superconductivity: 1930-1967 - A
Tragicomedy in Twelve Acts" [Hake (2011)] at <http://bit.ly/ojnMqo>
(8.8 MB), especially the Epilogue on page 28, wherein I give quotes
supporting Firestein's thesis by scientists Berlincourt, Brush,
Dyson, and Pippard.
In this post I also give links to further evidence in support of
Firestein's thesis:
A. Three abstracts of discussion-list posts:
a. "Re: Should the History of Science Be Rated X?" [Hake (2012a)] at
<http://bit.ly/NclPUR>;
b. "Should the History of Science Be Rated X? ADDENDA" [Hake (2012b)] at
<http://bit.ly/NUe6LC>; and
c. "Can Education Research Be 'Scientific'? What's
'Scientific'? [Hake (2012c)]
at <http://bit.ly/YrZJUS>.
B. Two books:
a. "Real Science: What it is, and what it means" [Ziman (2000)] at
<http://bit.ly/c8N2U1>, especially Ziman's statement on p. 183
<http://bit.ly/16OorRe> "most scientists would say that
their research is
directed into specific AREAS OF IGNORANCE" - My CAPS.
b. "Out of the Crystal Maze: Chapters from The History of Solid State
Physics" [Hoddeson et al. (1992)] at <http://bit.ly/195zbRk>.
*******************************************
"The pace of fundamental advance in physics is set by human
STUPIDITY. The pace is, and always has been, very slow."
- Freeman Dyson (1958), my CAPS
"If we wish to boast of our achievements, let us not point to the
unerring pursuit of truth by a logically faultless thinking machine,
but to the astonishing way in which truth can be caused to emerge
from the toils of error and STUPIDITY."
- A.B. Pippard (1977), my CAPS
REFERENCES [URL shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 19 July 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013. "How Ignorance Drives Science #3" online on the
OPEN! Net-Gold archives at <http://yhoo.it/17rfTBZ>. Post of 19 Jul
2013 16:06:12-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to
the complete post are being distributed to various discussion lists
and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/13PLYX5>
with a provision for comments.