Reporting and Describing Technoscience

Abstract

The debate on the narrative of science featured on these pages draws on the 4^th STS Italia Seminar on “Reporting and Describing Technoscience”, which was held on June 18, 2010 at the University of Milan. Starting from that seminar, Elena Cattaneo – the person in charge of the Stem Cell Research Laboratory and Neurodegenerative Disease Centre of the University of Milan – talks about her career and life story, and describes the daily management of laboratory, people, events and objects. She also recounts her experience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, focusing on the significant role of technologies, her involvement with the stem cell research, and the application of this research to the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. She talks about her ethical and political commitment as a scientist, and describes her work as a coordinator of international networks. Lastly, she reflects on the relationship between scientific research and social sciences. Assunta Viteritti’s analysis focuses on how scientists report their research practice. Starting from Elena Cattaneo’s account, she recalls selfnarratives by other scientists and proposes a reflection on the social construction of scientists’ narratives.