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.
