Surprise in Science: A qualitative study.
A growing literature in philosophy of science focuses on the role of surprise in scientific practice. The aesthetic dimension of science is also gaining momentum in very recent discussions. While surprising results have been recognised as playing an important epistemic role in science, the literatur...
| Publicado en: | Erkenntnis Vol. 91; no. 1; pp. 57 - 81 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Jan2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=190712023&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 190712023 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01650106 5KZ jtl: Erkenntnis issn: 01650106 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jan2026 vid: 91 iid: 1 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 190712023 10.1007/s10670-024-00880-x ppf: 57 ppct: 24 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 862KB tig: atl: Surprise in Science: A qualitative study. aug: au: Ivanova, Milena Vaidyanathan, Brandon affil: https://ror.org/013meh722 University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK https://ror.org/047yk3s18 Department of Sociology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA su: Aesthetics Qualitative research Curiosity Theorists Philosophy of nature Theory of knowledge Semi-structured interviews Scientific method sug: subj: Aesthetics Qualitative research Curiosity Theorists Philosophy of nature Theory of knowledge Semi-structured interviews Scientific method ab: A growing literature in philosophy of science focuses on the role of surprise in scientific practice. The aesthetic dimension of science is also gaining momentum in very recent discussions. While surprising results have been recognised as playing an important epistemic role in science, the literature so far has primarily focused on establishing the power of simulations and thought experiments as compared to experiments and the epistemic superiority of novel predictions over accommodations. In this paper we offer the first empirical analysis of the role of surprise as an aesthetic response, drawing from in-depth interviews with 215 scientists in four countries. We identify what roles scientists assign to surprising results, show that surprise is often experienced as an aesthetic response and identify properties, triggers, and outcomes of surprise in science. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Erkenntnis is a copyright of Springer, 2026. All Rights Reserved. item: Erkenntnis holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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