Model Behavior

Overall, the book is a first-class piece of scholarship: the arguments are clearly made, stimulating and well-supported. It contributes significantly to continued interest in the centrality of model organisms to the socio-epistemic character of the modern biosciences. . . . It will interest those working on all aspects of social genomics, those who study laboratory animal research and modelling and, because of its re-entry into the constructionist heartland of STS itself, a wide range of scholars concerned with the development of the discipline more widely. --New Genetics and Society An engaging and meticulously argued account of the ways in which complexity animates experimental practice. It is a must read for anthropologists interested in mental illness, laboratory work, and the social study of genomics. In a protracted moment of postgenomic scientific uncertainty, characterized by accusations of reductionism and the rise of big data approaches to behavior, Nelson provides a fresh view onto the well-trodden terrain of the laboratory to show how epistemic communities grapple with complexity and contingency in their everyday work. In doing so, she paints a picture of experimentation as a process that, rather than seeking to reduce and manage complexity, actively pursues and compounds it. Here, then, is a new vision of animal models whose purpose is not to find universal biological truths, nor make transspecific comparisons, but rather to capture specific behavioral processes and to engender more careful methodologies and multidisciplinary collaborations. This book is a critical step in developing medical anthropology and STS theorizations of how scientists preserve uncertainty as they build research programs. --Medical Anthropology Quarterly In this excellent book, a compelling read for STS scholars interested in the way in which biomedical knowledge of psychiatric conditions is produced, Nelson takes us to the oft-hidden world of the animal house. . . . This is an extremely well-crafted and engaging book illustrating how, in order to produce 'enduring genetic findings, ' researchers need to negotiate the relationship between humans and animals; between an isolated, local experiment and what forms part of a more general model; and between a behavioural trait and an experimental artefact. It is a must read for those interested in the role laboratory animals and their handlers play in the construction of biomedical knowledge, questioning the possibilities of engaging with ideas of complexity when ultimately modelling is a form of simplification. --Sociology of Health & Illness A pleasure to read. . . . Nelson succeeds in making her examination of complexity in animal behaviour genetics research at once clear and compelling, as well as academically astute. . . . Nelson's clever decision to study the complexity narratives of the scientists she follows pays dividends in many ways. Model Behavior paints an intriguing picture of what it looks like when scientists take on a role as actors and collaborators in efforts by STS scholars to question the overly simplistic explanations of their work. While Nelson's book is primarily a work of sociology of scientific knowledge, rather than of medical history, historians of biomedicine have a lot to learn from her fascinating and insightful examination of the surprising embrace of complexity over simplicity, and the eschewing of one-to-one correlations, in behaviour and health. --Medical History Scientists are accustomed to investigating the natural world and to drawing conclusions about it. In Model Behavior, historian of science Nicole Nelson turns the spotlight on them for a change. Like an anthropologist facing a new tribe, Nelson focuses her keen analytical mind on a US team researching the genetics of alcoholism in mice. The result is a stimulating and challenging exploration of science, and of how social scientists think about science. Everybody wins. --New Scientist