Table Of ContentInterdisciplinarity in the Making
Interdisciplinarity in the Making
Models and Methods in Frontier Science
Nancy J. Nersessian
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2022 Nancy J. Nersessian
This work is subject to a Creative Commons CC-BY-ND-NC license. Subject to such
license, all rights are reserved.
The MIT Press would like to thank the anonymous peer reviewers who provided
comments on drafts of this book. The generous work of academic experts is essential
for establishing the authority and quality of our publications. We acknowledge with
gratitude the contributions of these otherwise uncredited readers.
This book was set in Stone Serif and Stone Sans by Westchester Publishing Services.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nersessian, Nancy J., author.
Title: Interdisciplinarity in the making : models and methods in frontier
science / Nancy J. Nersessian.
Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2022] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021061880 (print) | LCCN 2021061881 (ebook) | ISBN
9780262544665 | ISBN 9780262372268 (epub) | ISBN 9780262372275 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Biotechnology—Methodology. | Bioengineering—Methodology. |
Biotechnology—Research—Case studies. | Bioengineering—Research—
Case studies. | Biotechnology laboratories. | Scientific surveys. |
Interdisciplinary research.
Classification: LCC TP248.24 .N47 2022 (print) | LCC TP248.24 (ebook) |
DDC 660.6—dc23/eng/20220720
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021061880
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021061881
Dedicated to the Memory of
Robert “Bob” Nerem
without whom nothing would have been possible
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
1 Investigating Practice: The Cognitive- Cultural Systems
of the Research Lab 1
1.1 A Cognitive- Cultural Framework for Investigating Practice 4
1.2 Broadening the Framework of Distributed Cognition 7
1.2.1 Scientific Task Environments 9
1.2.2 Mental Modeling 11
1.2.3 Scientific Practice Is Epistemic 15
1.3 Cognitive Ethnography of Research Labs 17
1.3.1 Cognitive Ethnography of Scientific Practices as a Method 19
1.3.2 Our Own Cognitive Ethnography of Bioengineering Labs 23
1.4 Four Cognitive Ethnographies: An Overview of Our Bioengineering
Sciences Project 27
1.4.1 Research Questions and Data Collection 29
1.4.2 Research Sites 31
1.4.3 Data Analysis 37
1.5 Overview of the Chapters 42
2 Building Hybrid Simulation Devices: Distributed
Model- Based Reasoning 47
2.1 “An Experimental Model That Predicts”: The Epistemic Practice
of Building to Discover 52
2.1.1 Lab A: The Flow- Loop Device and Model- Systems 53
2.1.2 Lab D: The Dish Model- Systems 65
2.2 “Putting a Thought into the Bench Top”: Distributing
Model- Based Reasoning 77
2.2.1 An “Experimental Model That Predicts”: The Construct- Baboon
Model- System 78
viii Contents
2.2.2 Interlocking Models in Distributed Reasoning 81
2.2.3 Representational Coupling in Distributed Reasoning 86
2.3 Predicting “What You Hope Would Happen in Real Life”:
Building Epistemic Warrant 88
2.3.1 Analogy and Exemplification 90
2.3.2 Building Analogue In Vitro Model- Systems 96
2.4 Summary: Getting a Grip with/on In Vitro Simulation Modeling 100
3 Engineering Concepts: Conceptual Innovation
in a Neuroengineering Lab 105
3.1 Concept Formation and Change in a Neural Engineering Lab 108
3.1.1 Phase 1: “Playing with the Dish” 108
3.1.2 Phase 2: “Seeing into the Dish” 115
3.1.3 Phase 3: “He Was Thinking Like a Wave, while We Were Thinking
of a Pattern” 122
3.2 Creating Scientific Concepts 130
3.2.1 Epistemic Affordances of In Silico Simulation Modeling 133
3.2.2 Distributed Model- Based Reasoning 135
3.3 Summary: Concept Formation “in the Wild” 141
4 Interlude: Building “the Lab” 145
4.1 Creating Epistemic Infrastructure: The Laboratory
for Tissue Engineering 147
4.1.1 Ontology of Artifacts 148
4.1.2 Configuring the Problem Space 155
4.1.3 Designing Educational Infrastructure for Hybrid Researchers 163
4.2 Summary: Lab A as “an Evolving Distributed Cognitive- Cultural System
with Epistemic Aims” 169
5 Managing Complexity: Modeling Biological Systems
Computationally 173
5.1 Adaptive Problem- Solving in ISB 178
5.1.1 Overarching Constraints on Model- Building 178
5.1.2 Mesoscopic Modeling 183
5.1.3 Engineering Transfer 185
5.2 “Where Numbers Come to Life”: Getting a Grip on Systems
Computationally 188
5.2.1 “I Always Start from Zero”: Overview of the Model- Building Process 191
5.2.2 A “Model- Based Signal Postulate”: Finding a Remedy for Lignin
“Recalcitrance” 204
Contents ix
5.3 Computational Model- Based Reasoning: Building “a Feeling
for the Model” 213
5.3.1 Extending the Capacity for Simulative Model- Based Reasoning 216
5.3.2 Building Epistemic Warrant 224
5.4 Summary: “Getting a Grip” with/on In Silico Simulation Modeling 228
6 The Bimodal Model- Building Strategy 233
6.1 Lab C: Redox Systems Biology 235
6.2 “You Need Very Precise Stimulation at Very Precise Time Points”:
Turning Experiments into Devices 248
6.3 “As I’m Building the Model, Things [about Experiments] Are Popping
Up in My Head”: Investigating Cancer Cell Drug Sensitivities 252
6.3.1 Phase 1: From Local Simulation to Global Simulation 254
6.3.2 Phase 2: Building the Dox Bioactivation Network Model 256
6.3.3 Phase 3: Wrapping Up: More Surprises, More Discoveries, Model 4 261
6.4 Epistemic Affordances of Coupling Simulation and
Experimentation 266
6.4.1 “I Did Them at the Same Time”: The Coupled System 268
6.4.2 Limitations of the Bimodal Strategy for ISB 275
6.5 Summary: Getting a Grip with/on Bimodal Model- Building 278
7 Interdisciplinarities in Action 281
7.1 Highlights 284
7.1.1 Distributed Cognition as an Analytical Framework for
Cognitive- Cultural Integration 284
7.1.2 Distributed Model- Based Reasoning 286
7.1.3 Building Epistemic Warrant 289
7.2 The Epistemic Situation of Interdisciplinary Practice 293
7.2.1 Five Interdisciplinary Virtues Distinguished 295
7.2.2 BME Problem- Solving: Hybridization 299
7.2.3 ISB Problem- Solving: Synthesis 301
7.2.4 Challenges and Strategies for Collaboration in ISB 306
7.3 Summary: “I Get It Now— I Know What You’re Doing” 317
Notes 319
References 335
Index 355
