On the Rules of Reproduction of an Invisible Science: The Network Structure of a Russian Scientific Laboratory

Abstract

The article presents tentative results of an ethnographic study of a molecular-biological laboratory at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. The study is part of a comparative cross-cultural research project on the practices of constructing knowledge in scientific labs of Russia and the USA. The major question the study poses is what resources are necessary in order for scientists to carry the original idea (hypothesis) up to the level of scientific product (article, patent, device) acknowledged by the community. Of importance is also the tracing of work stages where failures occur. ANT methodologies offered by Bruno Latour and early Michel Callon are employed in the article.