discourse analisys

Michael E. Lynch

      Born                  17 october 1949 (age 68)

Academic work

             Main                 Ethnomethodological approaches

      Interests             in science studies

Professor Michael Lynch studies discourse, visual representation, and practical action in research laboratories, clinical settings, and legal tribunals. He received the 1995 Robert K. Merton Professional award from the Science, Knowledge and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association for his book Scientific Practice and Ordinary Action. His most recent book, Truth Machine: The Contentious History of DNA Fingerprinting (with Simon Cole, Ruth McNally & Kathleen Jordan) examines the interplay between law and science in criminal cases involving DNA evidence. The book received the 2011 Distinguished Publication Award from the Ethnomethodology/Conversation Analysis section of the American Sociological Association. He is Co-Director of the Cornell Law and Society Program. For the past nine years he has been Editor of Social Studies of Science, and in 2007-09 he was President of the Society for Social Studies of Science.

            “Mike is one of the most influential scholars worldwide in science and technology studies,” says Bruce Lewenstein, chair of science & technology studies and professor of communication. He notes that while Lynch’s work in scientific visualization and in the relations of science and law is probably best known, equally important has been his long service as collaborating editor and his 10 years as editor of the major journal in the field, “Social Studies of Science.” Lewenstein says Lynch “was known for long, detailed critiques of submitted manuscripts and careful shepherding of them into published form, thus playing a mentoring role throughout the field. Here on campus, he’s long been a highly valued teacher at both undergraduate and graduate levels.”

Lynch studies discourse, visual representation, and practical action in research laboratories, clinical settings, and legal tribunals. He is Co-Director of the Cornell Law and Society Program.

His book, “Scientific Practice and Ordinary Action,” received the 1995 Robert K. Merton Professional award from the Science, Knowledge and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association.  His most recent book, “Truth Machine: The Contentious History of DNA Fingerprinting” (with Simon Cole, Ruth McNally & Kathleen Jordan), which examines the interplay between law and science in criminal cases involving DNA evidence, received the 2011 Distinguished Publication Award from the Ethnomethodology/Conversation Analysis section of the American Sociological Association.

Books

  Lynch, Michael (1985). Art and artifact in laboratory science: a study of shop work and shop talk in a research laboratory. London Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 9780710097538.

  Lynch, Michael; Woolgar, Steve (1990). Representation in scientific practice. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262620765.

  Lynch, Michael (1993). Scientific practice and ordinary action: ethnomethodology and social studies of science. Cambridge England New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521431521.

  Lynch, Michael; Sharrock, Wes (2003). Harold Garfinkel (4 volume set). London Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. ISBN 9780761974598.

  Lynch, Michael; Wajcman, Judy; Hackett, Edward J.; Amsterdamska, Olga (2008). The handbook of science and technology studies (3rd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press Published in cooperation with the Society for the Social Studies of Science. ISBN 9781435605046.

  Lynch, Michael; Cole, Simon; McNally, Ruth; Jordan, Kathleen (2008). Truth machine the contentious history of DNA fingerprinting. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226498089.

  Lynch, Michael; Sharrock, Wes (2011). Ethnomethodology (4 volume set). Benchmarks in Research Methods. Los Angeles: Sage. ISBN 9781848604414.

  Lynch, Michael (2012). Science and technology studies: critical concepts in the social sciences (4 volume set). Oxon New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415581820.

  Lynch, Michael; Woolgar, Steve; Coopmans, Catelijne; Vertesi, Janet (2014). Representation in scientific practice revisited. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262525381.