Throwing Down the Gauntlet on a Neoclassical Economics of Science

By Mirowski's own description, this book is a collection of essays that dwell in the interstices of scientific disciplines and established fields of inquiry: “this book sets out to explore that no-man's land at the borders of science and economics with attendant emotions pitched somewhere beyond the thrill of spelunking and the delectation of trespass” (p. 4). With his body armor and some extra clips for his rifle, he charges headfirst into this no-man's land with his sights set on what he calls “the twentieth century science-economy problematic” (p. 6). Some scholars often utilize economic principles (especially neoclassical ones) to characterize the structure and processes of science (ever heard of the “marketplace of ideas?”) while pulling out all the stops in claiming economics to be a rigorous scientific enterprise (on par with the pinnacle – physics, of course). In short, Mirowski is troubled that critical analysis of such academic pursuits seems to be verboten.