Knorr Cetina: “What Is a Laboratory” – A Place of Malleability & Reconfiguration

In Karin Knorr Cetina’s piece that discusses laboratories, she gives many indications that she is in favor of them and their effect on the scientific community, but she fails to point out the dangers of laboratory work. Knorr Cetina believes that a laboratory is not only a “physical space in which experiments are conducted” (26), but also a place that “carr[ies] systematic weight in our understanding of science” (26). The laboratory is very important because of how it allows people to further their scientific discoveries without having to actually be present at a certain place or time. This is because laboratories are able to “stage the action,” (34) as they can simulate what occurs in the original environment. The author believes that the creation of the laboratory continuously transcends space and time because it (a) “does not need to put up with an object as it is,” (b) “does not need to accommodate the natural object where it is” and (c) “[does not] need [to] accommodate an event when it happens” (27). The laboratory has become a common place for rotations of people to continue to study specific items in attempts to make particular scientific discoveries.

Knorr Cetina does briefly mention the possible sources of error committed in laboratory work, but barely delves into that subject. If I had been writing an article similar to hers, I would have made the reader more aware of both the advantages and disadvantages of the laboratory. While the pros most often seem to outweigh the cons with regard to laboratory work, I would have preferred to see a more general approach in her argument with the title of this section being “What Is a Laboratory.” For instance, when working in the laboratory, one must be very careful when tending to dangerous chemicals. Proper equipment, such as gloves and goggles, are necessary. Additionally, since Knorr Cetina reflects mostly upon the greatness of the laboratory, she fails to mention that observing in the laboratory may differ from doing so in a natural environment. Therefore, the controlled laboratory setting may not always be the best place to research.