Bruno Latour - A Relativistic Account of Einstein's Relativity

A Relativistic Account of Einstein's Relativity
Author(s): Bruno Latour

Source: Social Studies of Science, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Feb., 1988), pp. 3-44
Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.
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* ABSTRACT
This paper explores in some detail a semi-populartext writtenby Einsteinto
present his theoryof relativity.Semiotic tools are used to compare what
Einsteinsays about the activityof buildingspaces and times with what
sociologists of science can tell us. Einstein's text is read as a contribution
to the sociology of delegation. Once the drama of Einstein's argumenthas
been reconstructed,it is possible to learn fromhis theoryof relativity
something about the classical problem of 'relativity'in the STS field.A
comparison is established between the notion of social context and that of
the aether, and an argumentis developed to lead us beyond 'social'
explanations. The goal of such a semiotic study is twofold: to allow the
adaptation of the strongprogrammeto the peculiar conditions of the
theoreticalsciences; and to finda vocabulary foran activitybest defined as
infra-physics.
A RelativisticAccount of
Einstein's Relativity
Bruno Latour
Iftheyoungfieldofsocialstudiesofsciencecanbe granted
somedegree
ofsuccessintheempirical
sciencesandintheoretical
physics,
itsachievementsare farfromimpressive
in themathematical
sciences.The more
formalized
a fieldof science,theless fieldstudiesthereexistand the
lessconvincing
theyare. Mostaresatisfied
iftheycanshowsomedegree
of relationship
between'society'and 'content',butthebold claimof
- namely,
thestrong
programme
thatthecontent
ofanyscienceis social
- remains
through
andthrough
a programme
forfuture
fieldstudies.1
Thereare twowaysof interpreting
thisrelativefailure.The firstis
totakeitas thebestproofthatthestrong
programme
is an emptyclaim.
Whenitreachesthemoreabstract
or formalaspectsofscience,itstarts
to lose itsacumen- although
notitspretence- becausetheseaspects
are indeedmoreand moreremotefromsocietyand history(theword
'abstract'willbe redefined
below,pp. 31ff).The secondwayof interpreting
thisfailureis to considerthatthedefinition
of 'society'brought
intoplayin orderto explainthesciencesis unfitforthetask.Giventhe
Social Studies of Science (SAGE, London, Newbury Park, Beverly Hills and
New Delhi), Vol. 18 (1988), 3-44

Social Studiesof Science
ofthemoreabstract
theexplanation
to sociologists,
apparatusfamiliar
not because these
partsof sciencebecomes ever more far-fetched,
is initself
butbecausetheapparatus
partsofscienceescapefromsociety,
muchtoo crude.This in turncreatesa positivefeedbackloop: every
sciencesoffersgristto the
of thetheoretical
explanation
unconvincing
'Thereis moreto science
interpretation.
thefirst
millofthosewhoprefer
thansociety,'saysthelatter,'and thefailureofthestrongprogramme
provesthisclearlyenough.'
In thispaper,however,I wantto pursueanothertack:thereis more
Insteadof extending
to societythanmeetstheeyesof social scientists.
the social sciences'usual conceptsto thenaturalsciences,I wantto
theseverysocialconceptsinordertomakethemabletoexplain
redefine
themoreformalsciences.The taskat handis to keepthesamestrong
butto doubtwhatthe social scienceshave to say about
programme,
thenatural
onethattreats
a two-pronged
enterprise,
society.Itis ineffect
and thesocial sciencessymmetrically.2
Limitsof the Material
In a previouswork,3I have shownthatinsteadof extendingour
societyto Pasteur'sbacteriology
ofFrenchnineteenth-century
knowledge
results,and witha view merelyto explaining
withverydisappointing
aspectsof his science,it was easierand fasterto
themostsuperficial
societyand to
suspendour knowledgeof Frenchnineteenth-century
howa new
aspectsofPasteur'sbenchwork,
follow,intheverytechnical
social
implicit
sociallinkwas forged.Insteadofimposinga far-fetched
on theactors,thisapproachdisplayed
of theirinterests
interpretation
ofbotha newsocietyanda new
translation
bythePastorians
theexplicit
science.The priceto pay forsuchan approachwas to give awaythe
knowsocietywell enough
claimthatsociologistsand social historians
to explainthesciences.This priceseemedto me a lightone.
Pasteur,however,groundedas he was in theempiricalsciencesand
industrial,
beinginvolvedas he was in all aspectsof contemporary
was an easycase. Forthispaper,I have
activity,
economic,andpractical
case - thatof Einstein'srelativity
theory.His
chosena moredifficult
farremoved
revolutionary,
ofspaceandtimeis considered
reformulation
of Einstein
fromcommonsenseandquiteabstract.Social explanations
thetechnical
andshunned
activities
tohispolitical
themselves
havelimited
aspectsof his theory.Whentheyhappento deal withthem,theyare
bringsintoplaya wholebattery
Feuer,forinstance,
rather
disappointing.

Latour:Einstein'sRelativity
of social and psychologicalconcepts- such as upbringing,

milieu,
intergenerational
conflicts,
race,religionandculture- justto account
4 He givesno indication
forthechoiceof theword'relativity'.
of how
relativity
theoryitselfcouldbe said to be social. The otherreasonfor
mychoiceis, ofcourse,thetantalizing
linkthatexistsbetween
thedebates
in physicsandthosein social studiesof science,
surrounding
relativity
myown discipline.
Thepresent
paperis limitedtothestudyoftheEnglishversionofone
workwritten
semi-popular
by Einstein:Relativity,
theSpecialand the
GeneralTheory.5
Sucha choiceis a severelimitation,
eventhoughthis
bookwascarefully
rewritten
overmanyyears.Thelimitation,
byEinstein
however,is notso greatforourpurpose,whichis thefollowing:
inwhat
wayscan we, by reformulating
theconceptof society,see Einstein's
workas explicitly
social?A relatedquestionis: howcan we learnfrom
Einsteinhowto studysociety?If I failin answering
thesequestionson
the semi-popular
version,I will surelyfail to show it on the more
mathematical
texts.IfI succeed,itwillnotbe a proofthatI wouldhave
succeededon themoretechnicaltexts.It will simplyshowthatinstead
oflookingforlaborioussocialexplanations,
thereis aneasierandbroader
waytodevelopthestrong
programme,
whichhasno reasontobe limited
to theexperimental
sciences.
ShiftingOut and ShiftingIn
To studyEinstein'sargument,
we firstneedto definea fewbasictools
foranalyzingtexts.But in orderto maketheargument
lighterand to
allowa reader,evenone unfamiliar
withEinstein'sbook,to followmy
ownnarration,
I havegathered
mostoftheresultsintosix Tablesatthe
end of thepaper(pp. 37-41).
One ofthemostelementary
operations
ofanynarration
is whatsemioticianscall shifting
out,6as, forinstance,whenAgathaChristiewrites:
'HerculePoirotarrivedat Paddington
Stationat9 o'clockon Christmas
Eve.' Sheasksthereadertoshift
theirattention
awayfromher,thewriter
(also calledtheenunciator),
toa newactor(Poirot),operating
elsewhere
(atPaddington),
ata different
time(9 o'clockon Christmas
Eve). These
threetypesof shifting
out (actorial,spatial and temporal)may be
repeated,
separately
ortogether,
bytheauthor
as manytimesas necessary
- as, forexample,
when,ina dialogue,Poirotsummarizes
hisadventures
totherather
slowHastings.Naturally,
theactors(ormoreexactly
actants)
whichareshifted
outinthiswayneednotbe humancharacters:
theycan

For instance,inphraseslike 'thattrainarrivedin at seven

be anything.
progresshas alwaysbeen valuedeverywhere',
o'clock' or 'scientific
out are easilyrecognizable,'train'and
thethreeprocessesof shifting
progress'beingactantslike anyother(see Table 2).
'scientific
brings
thewriter
in,whereby
is calledshifting
Theconverseoperation
backto himor herselfandgivesthereadertheimpressionattention
- thattheenunciator,
nevermorethanan impression
itis bydefinition
the authorand the 'I' who speaksin thetextare one and the same
I will use the
movements,
character.To depictthesetwo elementary
mark
diagraminwhichthetwo(ormore)framesofreference
following
positionsin space and time;thechangein thelittleoutlines
different
to actor;thetwo
theshiftfromenunciator
fromwhiteto blacksignifies
The
andshifting-out.
theshifting-in
arrowsto andfromtheenunciator,
whichplaytherole
is tocreatecharacters
resultofthesetwomovements
of delegatesforthemainenunciator.
FIGURE 1
ShiftingOut and In
o ut
Space-time
Space-time
out
thetwo basic semioticoperations:shifting
This figureillustrates
see text.
explanation
and in. For further
inandoutis commontoall narrations,

ofshifting
Sincethisoperation
ofthe
itis in no waylimitedto 'literary'texts.Einstein,theenunciator
theauthor,
outa first
character,
shifts
forinstance,
bookunderscrutiny,
ofEinstein,and
whosays 'I' andwhomaybe seenas a personification
'thereader'(see Table 1). then
delegatedcharacter,
whotalkstoanother
shiftsoutagainbycreatinga 'manon theembankment',
thischaracter
amongthema thirdshifting-out,
whodoes variousthings- including
whata 'man in thetrain'woulddo and see. Later,each
by imagining

ofthecharacters
in whichEinstein
shifts
backin. All theseoperations,
delightsas muchas anynovelist(see Table 5), are easyto followifwe
visualizethemin a diagramlike thosein Figures1 and 2.
FIGURE 2
Einstein'sDelegationin Space and Time
t'non n
-w
frame 4
frame3
tembnrmtArni"'
frame 2
"Unslein, Me'enyrxiqor'
frame 1
The shifting
in andoutof characters
has one important
effecton the
reader.Anystory- no matter
howwild,bizarreandfoolish- creates
a certain
typeofrealism,
becauseoftheconstraints
imposedontheactors.
EvenCountDraculahasto slipawaysafelyintohiscoffin
atdawn.The
delegatedcharacters
imposeconstraints
on one anotherin sucha way
thatfora readernoteverything
is possible.An impression
ofresistance,
thatis of reality,is builtby all stories.This built-inrealismis called
bysemioticians
theinternal
referent,
to distinguish
itfromtheexternal
referent
oftenthought
to be the touchstone
thatallows fictionto be
distinguished
fromaccuratereporting.
It is veryimportant
at thispoint
notto push forany additionaldivisionbetweenthevarioustypesof
literature,
especiallybetweenso-called'fiction'andso-called'science'.7
All of thembuildan internal
referent,
butsomeof themchooseto do
so bygivingtheimpression
thattheauthor
possessesdocuments
allowing
himtosupport
whathesays.Thisrealistic
genreofstorytelling
is common
to manynovels,as wellas to reporting
and,ofcourse,science.In such
a genre,theauthorsofferproofs,in thetext,thattheyhavenotmade
up thewholestory,butthatit is based on certaindocuments
thatcan
be seenorcouldbe shown.IfHastings,
inAgathaChristie's
novel,says:

'I was mostimpressedby thelistPoirothad madeof all thepotential

suspects,'thisbuildsan additionaleffectof realismintothetext.This
in one level below,actually
iftheauthor,shifting
effectis reinforced
list,or tellsus thatitcan be consulted
showsthereaderthisimpressive
2345-B6Hat theBritishLibrary.Thusifwe actually
in themanuscript
go to theBritishLibraryand findthelistof suspects,thenwe do not
to avertherealityof Poirot'scase.
need to go any further
As I have shown elsewhere,8 it is possible to definescientific
byfollowing
howtheauthors,insteadofalluding
literature
stylistically
(tables,
mobilizetheminthetextas so manyinscriptions
to documents,
graphs,pictures,diagrams).It is evenpossibleto decideifa narration
pertainsto a harderor a softerfieldof scienceby lookingat thetype
of inscriptions
and thewaytheyare piledon topof one anotherso as
to create,forthereader,theimpression
of a harderor softerreality.9
To visualizethisaddedrealisminthediagram,I havechosena symbol,
tracethedelegated
characters
bring
thetypeofwritten
LO,thatrepresents
fromone level of thestoryback to theone below. The 'adequation',
is whatwe mean
or inscriptions,
betweendocuments
orthecoincidence
by reality,as faras semiotictheoryis concerned.
FIGURE 3
The Realist Genre
out
out-A
ft
docuents
~~~~~3
referent
inlernnao
0
are broughtback to the
how documents
The Figureillustrates
delegatingframeof reference.
thatensues,have
andthebuilding
The shifting
up ofreality
operations,
effecton thereader.Whiletheenunciator
and the
anotherimportant
ofspaceand
arebothstucktooneportion
reader(alsocalled'enunciatee')
theeffect
oftheshifting-out
timeandtoonecharacter
(albeitunknown),

is todelegatethemelsewhere
inspaceandtimeundera different
operation
totheshifting-in
guise,andthen,thanks
tobringthedelegated
operation,
characters
back. If therewereno shifting,
therewouldbe no way of
everescapingfromthenarrowconfinesof hic et nunc,and no wayof
everdefining
whotheenunciator
is. Therewouldbe uttersilence.No
science,no politics,no artwouldbe possible.The delegation
provided
- actorial,spatialandtemporal
- is thebasis of
bythetripleshifting
everydiscourse.Thesesimplesemiotic
toolsallowus tofollowprecisely
practices
usuallysubsumed
underthenamesof 'power','institution'
and
'domination',as well as otherssuchas 'instruments'
and 'equations'
whichare thought
to pertainto cognition.
We can nowunderstand
why
everyargument
thattouchesuponthisproblemof delegation(whether
itbe in science,in politicsor in art)appearsto be fundamental
and so
triggers
passions,interests
and fears.
The PracticalWork of FramingEvents
The peculiarity
of Einstein'snarration
is notthatitputsto use shifting
in andout,sinceeverynarration
does thesame,butthatit focusesthe
reader'sattention
upon theseveryoperations.Althoughhe takesthe
reader,at thebeginning,
to Trafalgar
Square(p. 6), he is notinterested
in sendinghimto tailHerculePoiroton to thetrainat Paddington,
nor
in observing
howhe solvesa murdermystery.
He is interested
onlyin
theway in whichwe sendanyactorto anyotherframeof reference.
Insteadof describing
laws of nature,he setsout to describehow any
description
is possible.He does nottella storyinsidesomeframework
to whichhe has takenus, hisreaders,buthe tellsthestoryof howyou
frameanyevent,how you buildanyframeof reference.
Technically,
his book is aboutdelegationand, likethoseof Greimas,forexample,
is a bookofmeta-linguistics
orofsemiotics,
onewhichtriestounderstand
how any narration
is constructed.
Inscriptions
WhileGreimasand mostsemioticians
are contentwitha definition
of
thatsimply
shifting
sendsa character
toa different
spaceandtoa different
time,10
Einstein'sexclusiveattention
is focusedon howwe definethat
itis a different
space anda different
timein thefirstplace. Playingthe
idiot,theauthor-in-the-text
redefines
whatan eventis, whata spaceand

10
a
holdingfirmly
ofa littlecharacter
a timeare,bythepracticalactivity
intended)who superimposes
rigidlittlerod (no cheappsychoanalysis
thereadingsofthehandsofwatchesandofthenotchesofrulers.From
ofphysical
atthisperiod,ofMachianreduction
thegenre,common
within
andgivennotions
theabstract
translates
Einstein'snarration
concepts,11
of space and time,in termsof a practicethatlocallygeneratesspatial
and temporalframes(see Table 3).
is translated
proposition'
ofa geometrical
'thetruth
chapter,
In thefirst
withrulerandcompasses'(p. 3). Thenthispractical
into'a construction
translated:
is further
construction
ofthesceneof an eventor of thepositionof an objectin space is
Everydescription
withwhich
ofthepointon a rigidbody(bodyofreference)
basedon thespecification
thateventor objectcoincides.(p. 5; myemphasis)
ofsituations
limitstheobserverto a smallnumber
Sincethistranslation
- theones in whichhe can actually
of rigidrods
erectthescaffolding
- he thenconstructs
theCartesiancoordinates:
a widerscaffolding,
(for
thesceneof anyeventwillbe determined
to a systemofco-ordinates,
Referred
or coof thelengthsof thethreeperpendiculars
themainpart)by thespecification
ordinates(x, y, z) whichcan be droppedfromthesceneof theeventto thosethree
bya series
canbe determined
ofthesethreeperpendiculars
planesurfaces.The lengths
totherulesandmethods
according
rodsperformed
withrigidmeasuring
ofmanipulations
laid downby Euclideangeometry.(p. 7)
intoa concretetask
fromabstraction
The resultof thistransformation
is to get ridof thenotionof space:
of stagingcoordinates
acknowledge,
shunthevagueword'space', ofwhich,we musthonestly
We entirely
conception... (p. 9)
we cannotformtheslightest
to
Thento thehardand lowlyworkof buildinga rigidscaffolding
three
at
least
or
frameany eventis added thepracticalmanagement
of
The illustration
outin otherframesof reference.'12
delegatesshifted
a
is
added
to
which
train
of
a
in
terms
theproblemis again made
How
Ages.
the
Middle
since
of
scene
physics
fallingstone,theprimitive
madeina trainaboutthebehaviour
anobservation
canonedecidewhether
madeofthe
stonecanbe madetocoincidewiththeobservation
ofa falling
Ifthereareonlyone,oreven
samefallingstonefromtheembankment?
no solutioncan be foundsincethemaninthe
two,framesofreference,
lineandthemanon theembankment
trainclaimshe observesa straight
tellsus ifitis thesamestoneactingaccording
a parabola.Thusnothing
itis a
to thesamelaw ofphysics.Each observerhas 'its' - remember

11
semioticcharacterin thetext- own irreducible

visionof theworld.
The characters
backin,running
maybe shifted
out,butnotshifted
the
riskof fallingintorelativism.
Einstein'ssolutionis to considerthree
actors:one in thetrain,one on theembankment
and a thirdone, the
authoror one of itsrepresentants,
whotriesto superimpose
thecoded
of superobservations
sentback by the two others.The shifting-in
imposablewrittenrecordsis feasibleif the delegatedobserversare
andareforcedtosticktomuchsimpler
thoroughly
tasksthan
disciplined
theonesusuallyrequiredfromtravellers
andrailwayemployees.They
are notaskedto tellwhattheysee, butto writedownthe'ticks'ofthe
clocksand thenotchesof rulerstheyhave been equippedwith:
We understand
by the 'time'of an eventthereading(positionof thehancls)of that
one oftheseclockswhichis in theimmediate
vicinity
(in space) of theevent.In this
mannera time-valueis associatedwitheveryeventwhichis essentially
capableof
observation.(p. 24)
The meaningof space, thatof timeand thatof a description

is nil, if
therelationthatties thedelegatedobservershearingticksand superimposing
notchesto otherstowhichtheysendwritten
andcodedreports
is notspecified.
Anydescription
hasmeaning
toa particular
only'relative
bodyof reference';it is meaningless
iftheequipment,
hierarchy,
task
andmethod
ofdocumentation
ofthedelegated
observers
arenotspecified.
Insteadof considering
instruments
(rulersand clocks) as ways of
representing
abstractnotionslike space and time,Einsteintakesthe
instruments
to be whatgeneratesspace and time.Insteadof spaceand
timebeingrepresented
through
themediation
of theinstruments,
it is
space and timewhichhave alwaysbeen representing
thehumbleand
hiddenpractice
ofsuperimposing
notches,
handsandcoordinates.
itmust
be saidthatthecharacter
portrayed
byEinsteindoes a verysimilarjob
to thatof an anthropologist
of sciencewhorefusesto understand
what
'space' and'time'mean,andwhofocusesinsteadon work,practices
and
instruments.
Like anyconstructivist
in sociologyof science,Einstein's
first
moveinthistextis tobringtheabstractions
backtotheinscriptions
and to thehardworkof producing
them.This shiftof emphasisfrom
abstraction
toinscription
willallowEinstein
totransform
theusualframe
of thetraditional
Newtoniannarrations
intoactantsthatcan be altered
(shortened,
sloweddown,elongated,rotated).Whatreallycountsin
framing
anysceneis notspaceandtimebutotheractivities,
likeshifting
out a delegatedobserver,bringing
it back in, sendingsignals,superimposing
traces,andso on. Insteadofdominating
all scenes,spaceand
timeare aspectsof whatis set up at thebeginning
of any scene.

12
textis toreplacetheshifting-out
ofEinstein's
originality
Thus,thefirst
(includingsociologistsand
in space and timethateveryothernarrator
operation
morecomplicated
bya slightly
tookforgranted,
semioticians)
equippedwithclocksand
thatrequiresatleastthreedelegatedobservers
rulerswhosendlightsignalsandwhothenbuildupthestageofcoordinates
maylateroperate.
insidewhichtheusual shiftings
time.Unlesswe are
system)has itsownparticular
(co-ordinate
Everyreference-body
oftimerefers,thereis no meaningin
to whichthestatement
toldthereference-body
of thetimeof an event.(p. 26)
a statement
workis
Meaningcomesback to thestoryonlywhenthemetrological
workthat
thisformer
applieswhenever
specified.The word'relativity'
givesmeaningbackto thestoryis specified.(Thispointshouldbe kept
inmindbecausethisis also thewaywe willdefine,below,therelativity
of our own account.)
Subscriptions
in thestaging
Einstein,in thiswork,is notonlyobsessivelyinterested
thatallowspatialandtemporal
shiftingofreferences
oftheveryframes
As I have said, it is notthe
out,buthe also focuseson theshifting-in.
betweenfiction-writing
butonlythelatterthatcreatesdistinctions
former
of
ofthereaderin thetrustworthiness
The confidence
andfact-writing.
to
theaccountincreasesiftheauthorshowsthatit has thedocuments
thatcan be
are inscriptions
what'it' says.Ifthesedocuments
guarantee
thenconfidence
on thenarration,
growsaccordingto the
superimposed
ofthefit.Such
andtotheperfection
or qualityofthedocuments
number
operationsgive the impressionthatthereis an adequationbetween
are about (this'adequatiorei et
and whatthe utterances
utterances,
oftruth).
Ofcourse,
intellectus'
beingthebasisofmostofourdefinitions
referent
ofan internal
maybe commonto muchnarrathisconstruction
effectby
as a literary
tion.Even thescientific
genremaybe imitated
thatprovethatthestoryis notmadeup! This
makingup theinscriptions
is commonpracticewhensome degreeof realismis thegoal.
thetrustworthitoestablish
Thereis, however,a finalwayofclaiming
- that
inthefirst
is,by
shifting-out
nessoftheaccount.Thisis byshifting
ownsetting.
enunciator's
the
back
to
reader
ofthe
theattention
focusing
thiscrucialpoint.The readerof AgathaChristie's
Let us illustrate
frameof
novel is asked to travelwithHerculePoirotto a different

13
reference,
muchas thereaderofan astronomy
paperis askedto go 'out
there'to thestars.Whentheybeginto wonderwhether
it is a fiction
or a realstory,theyarebothaskedto shiftbacktothemanyproofsthat
theauthorshavemobilizedintheirstoriesto buildtheinternal
referent.
However,thereaderofthenovelis notsupposedto go further
backto
AgathaChristie'soffice,andto see ifHerculePoirothas lefttracesof
hispassagethatresembleinsomewayswhatis inthenovel.On theother
hand,thereaderof theastronomy
paperis led to thinkthathe could
be permitted
itwouldbe a rareoutcome)to comebacktothe
(although
astronomers'
andto superimpose
observatory
thetracesofthestarshe
hasreadaboutuponthetracespresent
inthelab. Ifthereader'sattention
was shifted
back in thisway,his disappointment
at finding
in
nothing
thewriter'sofficecould notbe takenagainstthefictionwriter'scraft
- butitwouldbe theendofthescientific
- quitethecontrary
writer's
credit.The internalreferent
of the textis complemented,
asserted,
evaluatedbyitsadequation,
toanother
fit,superimposition,
referent
that
I willcall underwritten13
(or subscribed)becauseit is madeof another
setof inscriptions
thatestablishthecredibility
of theones used in the
textto establishthereference
of thenarration.
This mightbe, in the end, the onlydistinction
between'literary'
literature
andscientific
literature,
butitis onethatcannotbe takenlightly.
As thefollowing
diagramstresses,thepossibility
ofthisfinalshiftingin definesa different
boundary
forthenarration.
On theleft-hand
side
of Figure4 we havea textandtheenunciator's
setting
is irrelevant;
on
theright-hand
side,we havesomething
slightly
different
froma textsince
theenunciator's
thelaboratory,
setting,
becomesessential- hencethis
ideathatscientific
papersaresimply
meansofcommunicating
information
and do notrelateto generalliterature.
Einsteinis obsessedby theriskthatthelast shifting-in
thatcreates
the only final distinction
betweenfiction-writing
and fact-writing,
becomesimpossible.The dramatic
intensity
ofhistextdependsinlarge
parton thefollowing
dilemma:eitherwe believethatthereis a space
anda timeto whichwe can shift-out
ourdelegatedobservers,
butthen,
whenwe shift
thembackin,theirreports
areno longersuperimposable;
or we requirethatall theirreports
be superimposable,
butthenwe have
toabandontheideathatcharacters
canbe delegatedinan unproblematic
space and time(see Table 6).
The firstbranchof thedilemmaleads to whatis commonly
referred
toas 'relativism':
eachobserversees according
toitsownpointofview;
whenthemanon theembankment
adds up velocities,thetotalis not
thesameas forthemanin thetrain;each actorhas itsownirreducibly

14
FIGURE 4
Referent
The Underwritten
2-
Internal referent
132
Internal referent +
underwrittenreferent
is added to thediscourse,thedividebetween
referent
Whentheunderwritten
fictionand scienceis moveddownone level.
pointofview,whichmeansthatall pointsofviewareequally
subjective
cannotprovethatwhathe
privileged,whichmeansthattheenunciator
Of tasteandcolours,one
on
inscriptions.
is
based
superimposable
says
ofviews,opinions,
end,
points
in
the
does notdiscuss.Textsarealways,
interpretations thatis to say, fictions.
which
It is thesecondbranchofthedilemmathatwillleadtorelativity,
of Einstein
as manycommentators
is theexactoppositeof relativism,
have pointedout. The delegatedactorhas no personalpointof view;
adds up velocitiesthetotaladds up
whenthemanon theembankment
exactlyto whatthemaninthetrainhas summedup, atleastinthehands
point
ofthistext;thereis noprivileged
thenarrator
ofthethirdobserver,
of view; whichmeans thatno matterhow far away I delegatethe
reportsthatestablishmy
observers,theyall sendback superimposable
whichmeansthatit is possibleto escape fromfiction.We
credibility;
even of the
of the reflection,
of theefforts,
the intensity
understand
text:whatis at stakehereis
by thismeta-scientific
passionstriggered
thefinalboundarybetweenfactand fiction.The abilityof semioticsto
be extendedto sciencedependson itsabilityto deal withthisreference
in a text.14
commented
theinscriptions
thatunderwrites
Transcriptions
is amusingbecause
and relativity
confusionof relativism
The frequent
it is thefiercefightbetweenthetwothatgivesEinstein'stextmuchof

15
itsimpetus(see Table 6). To understand

thispoint,we shouldturnour
as we havejust done,but
attention
notto temporalor spatialshifting,
to thethirdkind,called 'actorial'shifting.
The questionis to decideif
theshifted-out
actorshavepersonalpointsof viewor not.If yes,then
you can't shiftthemback in, sincetheywill all presentunequivalent
versionsof thescenestheyhave observed.If no, thenyou are indeed
abletoshift
all ofthembackin. Theywillall comebackwithequivalent
versionsofthescenestheyhavebeendelegatedto observe.In thefirst
outand independent;
in theother,theyare also
case, theyare shifted
shiftedout butare completely
dependent.
However,itis onlywhentheenunciator's
gain is takenintoaccount
thatthedifference
betweenrelativism
and relativity
revealsitsdeeper
meaning.Iftheactorsareall independent,
eachwithitsownirreducible
pointofview,theenunciator
has no privilege.Whatis theconsequence
iftheactorshaveno personality,
iftheyhavepoints
are all dependent,
ofviewthatcanbe easilyreducedtotheenunciator's?
Itis theenunciator
thathastheprivilege
ofaccumulating
all thedescriptions
ofall thescenes
he has delegatedobserversto. The above dilemmaboils down to a
forthecontrol
ofprivileges,
struggle
forthedisciplining
ofdocilebodies,
as Foucaultwouldhave said.
Whatappearsconfusing
inEinstein'stext,as wellas intheopposition
betweenrelativism
andrelativity,
is thisapparent
paradox:ifthereexist
manypointsofvieweachclaimingtobe privileged,
no one ofthemcan
getan edgeoverall theothers;if,onthecontrary,
therearenoprivileged
pointsof view,thismeansthatthereis nothing
to preventone ofthem
an edgeoverall theothers.We are, in ourdailypractice,quite
getting
cleverat handlingthisseemingparadox- notin physics,to be sure,
butin economics.It is thesameparadoxas thatof liberalism.As long
as anymovement
ofgoods,moneyorpeopleis interrupted
bymanylocal
franchises,
protections,
tariffs,
feudalsystems,particular
regulations,
traditions,
irreducible
cultures,
itis impossible
tocapitalizeon anylarge
scale. 'Laissez-faire
laissez-passer'
is a necessary
precondition
forlargescale capitalization.
Of coursethereis a priceto pay - abandonment
- butthepayoff
ofprotection,
oftariffs,
of specialad hoc regulations
is worthit forthosewho can profitfromthe weakeningof others'
barriers.
In Einstein'stext,we also have to graspthesame relationbetween

two seemingly
contradictory
slogans:no privilegedpointof view; no
independent
observer.The choicegivenus by Einsteinis betweenthe
- or the
deformation
ofthereportssentbytheobservers- relativism
transformation
ofthesereports relativity.
The sameattention
Einstein

16

FIGURE 5
RelativismversusRelativity
Relativism
Privilegedpointsof view
Independent
observers
Unequivalenceof observations
of traces
No superimposition
Enunciator
has no privilege
No large-scaleprivilege
No possibleomniscience
Relativity
No privilegedpointsof view
Dependentobservers
Equivalenceof observations
of traces
Superimposition
Enunciator
gainsin theend
Large-scaleprivileges
Omniscienceis possible
(clocksandrulers)is nowpaidto the

up theinstruments
paidto setting
actors.Eitherthereports
sentbythedelegated
ofthereports
transcription
once
andtheycannotbe superimposed
retranscription
are sentwithout
lab; ortheyareretranscribed
backintheenunciator's
theyareall gathered
Eithereachreportis deformed
andtheyare thenfullysuperimposable.
and it seemsthateach observerhas itsownviewof thescene;or each
hasitsownpeculiar
anditappearsthatnoobserver
is transformed
report
is justone amongmany
pointof view. In thefirstcase, theenunciator
since
ofreference
stuckas muchas theyareinoneframe
otherobservers,
toanyother;inthesecond,itis as ifhewas freely
no frameis equivalent
havebeenrendered
sinceall frames
fromoneframetoanother,
travelling
thetwo branchesof thedilemmathus:
equivalent.I have portrayed
FIGURE 6
Relativism
Ir
/rmmnnIT7h
frame 3
zf
No super- /
position
Vt'-^
/ -
frame 4
on
yJrmma 14eemt>nr,imen1
"z"instein, IA,-enu.cielor
fraime2
frame 1
of its actions;
has its own definition
each frameof reference
Withrelativism,
document.
thuscannotgatherany superimposable
theenunciator

17
FIGURE 7
Relativity
I2
0/7bA'Ird
"/"m0/7
/7;?o17 IA, embeklra
. zr
Super
positio
ID'
'
lneio,
Me el7wrielor "'
frame 4
frome 3
"'
2
~~~frame
frame
Withrelativity,
a transversal
pathis establishedin betweenframesof reference
whichno longerhave theirown irreducible
pointsof view; thusit is possible
fortheenunciator
to capitalizeon superimposable
reports.
In thefirst
inandoutmaybe interrupted
atanypoint,
solution,
shifting
senddifferent
sincethemaninthetrainandthemanon theembankment
In thesecond
messagesaboutwhathappensintheirframeofreference.
cannotbe betrayed
solution,theenunciator
byanyone.The impersonal
delegatedobserversworkforhimand forhimonly,sendingperfectly
documents.
As stressedin thepictures,whatcountsin
superimposable
thefirstsolutionis theseriesof shiftedframesof reference,
whereas,
inthesecond,whatcountsaboveall is thetransversal
pathestablished
in
betweenframes.Nothing
interrupts
thefreemovement
oftheenunciator
- he can expandfromone frameto another.
Thereis no longerany
one framethatmightbe usedas a rigidandstablereference,
intowhich
confidence
is vested;confidence
is nowputintothetransversal
linkthat
allowsall frames,no matterhow unstableand pliable,to be aligned.
Insteadof a complicated
gearto shifteveryframeofreference
outand
in, thereis onlyone transformation.
To takea stillsimplermetaphor,
thefirst
solutionis likegoingon footthrough
bumpyandunknown
fields
thathave no beatenpath;thesecondis like followinga highway.To
theconstant
negotiations
through
inequivalent
and irreducible
frames,
relativity
leads us to a non-negotiated
travelfromone equivalenceto
thenext.

18
of the gain, thepaperworkimposedby the

Giventhe importance
appearsquitelight.Givenanysetof
of each document
retranscription
x, y, z and t sentby anyone of thedelegatedobservers,
coordinates,
to shiftthembackin his own frameof
it is possiblefortheenunciator
theset
through
withanother,
each coordinate
by substituting
reference
of equationsknownas a 'Lorentztransformation'.
FIGURE 8
The LorentzTransformation
x -ut
1
cZ
Y'=
z'=z
L2
LI
c2
definesthepaperworknecessaryto move
The Lorentztransformation
fromone frameto theotherand stillmaintainsuperimposition
documents
of tracesat theend.
framesof
In the case, at least, of observerssentto unaccelerated
out and in
is a way of shifting
theLorentztransformation
reference,
withouthavingto lose, in thejump, the documentsgatheredby the
ado 'shifting
call withoutfurther
delegatedactors.Whatsemioticians
to
thatare content
outandin', becausetheymostlyconsidernarrations
be read as textand fiction,is offereda precisemeaningby Einstein
fromtextsand
thathe wantstodistinguish
becausehe studiesnarrations
withouttransformation
fictions.The choice betweendeformation
- or transformation
oftheform- relativity
andstability
relativism
is nicelysummedup on p. 47:
intoa law
thatit is transformed
Everygenerallaw of naturemustbe so constituted
of exactlythesameformwhen,insteadof thespace-timevariablesx, y, z, t of the
newspace-time
variablesx', y', z', t' ofa
systemk,we introduce
originalco-ordinate
and the
therelationbetweentheordinary
co-ordinate
systemk'. In thisconnection
Or inbrief:Generallaws
is givenbytheLorentztransformation.
accentedmagnitudes
withrespectto Lorentztransformation.
(My stress)
of natureare co-variant
Laterinthetext,whentheproblemwillbe to sendaccountsofobservathan
moretransformations
tionsfromacceleratedframesof reference,

19
thissimplepaperwork
willbe required,butthegoal willbe thesame
(see Table 6): in orderto maintainthe stableequivalentformof all
moreand moretransformations
observations,
and retranscriptions
are
necessary.The rigidCartesiancoordinates
used so farto controlthe
behaviourofdelegatesis replacedbya less rigidbutmuchfinermesh,
theGaussiancoordinates,
of whichtheCartesianare onlya particular
case.
According
to thespecialtheoryofrelativity,
theequationswhichexpressthegeneral
laws of naturepass overintoequationsof thesameformswhen,by makinguse of
theLorentztransformation,
we replacethespace-time
variables
x, y,z, t,ofa (Galilean)
reference-body
bythespace-time
variablesx', y', z', t', ofa newreference
bodyK'.
Accordingto thegeneraltheoryof relativity,
on theotherhand,by applicationof
arbitrary
substitutions
of theGauss variablesxi, x2,X3, X4, theequationsmustpass
overintoequationsof thesameform.(p. 98, mystress)
The devil take the rigidity

and stability
of the framesof reference,
providedthedelegatedobservershaveno privileged
pointof viewand
sendinformation
whichis notdeformed.
AttheendofhistextEinstein,
abandoning
anysortof rigidity
of theframes,deviseswhathe calls a
'molluscof reference'.It is thismolluscthatallowstheenunciator
to
senddelegates
anywhere
atanyspeedandstillgetbackusableobservation
thatmaintains
theformsof thedescription
intactand stable:
Everypointon themolluscis treatedas a space-point,
andeverymaterial
pointwhich
is at restrelatively
to it is at rest,so longas themolluscis consideredas reference
body.The generalprincipleof relativity
requiresthatall thesemolluscscan be used
as reference-bodies
withequalright
andequalsuccessintheformulation
ofthegeneral
laws of nature;thelaws themselves
mustbe quiteindependent
of thechoiceof the
mollusc.(p. 99)
Eitherthelaws are dependent

on thechoiceof independent
observers,
or theobserversare madedependent,
thusrendering
thelaws independent.The abilityof the delegatedobserversto send superimposable
reportsis madepossibleby theirutterdependenceand evenstupidity.
The onlythingrequiredof themis to watchthehandsof theirclocks
closelyand obstinately:
These clocks satisfyonly one condition,thatthe 'readings'whichare observed
on adjacentclocks(in space)differ
simultaneously
fromeachotherbyan indefinitely
smallamount.(p. 99)
Thatis thepricetopayforthefreedom
andcredibility
oftheenunciator.

20
withtimeand space does notlead, as

In thisbook,Einstein'sfiddling
but
byhiswritings,
oftentriggered
we can nowsee, to themetaphysics
forthesociologyof science.
of crucialimportance
to an infra-physics
withthepracticalwork
we arepresented
Insteadofframesofreference,
we nowsee thehardworkof
up frames;insteadofcharacters,
ofsetting
insteadof
andinstruments;
observers
delegated
andmanaging
disciplining
anddecodingofinformation
theencoding
forgranted,
takinginformation
theword
transcriptions:
subscriptions,
arenowmadevisible.Inscriptions,
to
frames
relating
refersto thislowlyworkofbuildingand
'relativity'
be
mainform
can
one anotherin sucha waythatsomekindof stable
at
combinedand superimposed
tainedwhichcan, then,be cumulated,
somepoint.
The Limitsof a Social Explanation
ofEinstein's
a socialandpoliticalexplanation
Whatdoesitmeantooffer
we
thatthe
mean
and
social,
of
by
political
relativity?
If,
definition
intoanotherlanguage
technicalworkof Einsteinshouldbe translated
'cultures'aresaid
inwhichwordssuchas 'groups','classes', 'interests',
to be whatis reallypresentbeneaththewords'trains','embankment',
or 'Minkowski
four-dimensional
space',
'stars','Gaussiancoordinates',
a social explanationwould be meaningless.Einstein'swork is not
historians,
reducible
totheworkdone,inotherdomains,byeconomists,
by,
sociologistsand ideologists.Nothingis hiddenbeneath,reflected
work.Should
mirrored
in,alludedtobyhistechnical
through,
represented
thatitescapes
andabstract
we thusconcludethathisworkis so technical
toanything
onlytophysicswithno relation
fromourworldandpertains
betweentwo technicallanguages
else? Certainlynot.This alternative
- is
- social scientists
and physicists
fortwo scientific
professions
preciselywhatthispaperaims to avoid.
we meanthatwe can
On theotherhand,if,bya social explanation,
about
something
learnfromthetechnicalpartof Einstein'sargument
thewaysocietyis built,we mightstarttoapproachsuchan explanation.
themanagement
It is clear,fora start,thatthevariouswaysofshifting,
between
thedifference
of delegates,thequestionof theirfaithfulness,
without
thedisplacement
deformation,
andfiction-writing,
fact-writing
chains
the buildingof equivalences,the keepingup of metrological
- all theseproblems
and
are commonto manydisciplines activities,
and cutacrosswhatis abstractand whatis concrete,whatis scientific
and whatis dailypractice,whatis politicaland whatis technical.For

21
instance,theSmithsonian
in themiddleof thenineteenth
Institution,
inbuilding
century,
hadsimilarproblems
up meteorological
phenomena.
How to obtainin Washington
a mapof tornadoes?15By recruiting
600
correspondents
Thisrecruitment
spreadaroundthecountry.
driveis only
onelittlepartofthetask,becauseitis thennecessarytodisciplinethem
insucha waythattheyfillinusableforms
thatmakesenseoncegathered
in theWashington
office.It is especiallyimportant
to makesurethat
theymaketheirreadingsat thesametimeeveryday,at thesameplace.
'Weathermissionaries'
are sentaroundtomakesurecorrespondents
are
dedicatedand faithful.
This is notan easytask,especiallyifone bears
inmindthatthesamepeopleareoften
askedtosendtothesameInstitution
stuffed
animals,plants,specimensof all sorts,whichmeansthatthey
haveto roamaroundthecountry
as muchas possible.16 The practical
questionofobtaining
at thesametimefixeddedicatedweathermen
and
mobilededicatednaturalists
is enormous,and is as muchpartof the
buildingof an institution
as is Einstein'smeta-discourse
on how to
disciplineany observersentto any frameof reference.
It is to accommodate
manyexamplesof sucha problemthatI have
proposedconsidering
history
of scienceas thehistory
ofcentreswhich
are growingthrough
themanagement
of tracesthathave threemain
characteristics:
theyare as mobile,as immutableand faithful,
and
as combinableas possible. The circulationback and forthof these
- thatis to say, two-way
'immutable
mobiles'tracenetworks
paths
leadingfromthecentreto thenow-dominated
frames.Thesenetworks
are constantly
repairedagainstinterruption
bymaintaining
metrological
chainsthatkeep theframesequivalent.To definethesecentresin the
17 The main
mostgeneralway,I havecalledthemcentres
ofcalculation.
pointof theirhistoryis thatno distinction
has to be made between
economics,science,technics
oreventhearts,whenwe followhoweach
oftheirthreecharacteristics
is enforced.Contributions
to thiscommon
history
maybe madeby historians
of perspective,
of print,of art,of
technics,of expeditions,
of economics,and so on. Fromthispointof
view,no distinction
has tobe made,either,between'abstract'thinking
and 'practical'activities.
The immutability
ofthemobilizedtracesis as
muchenhancedwhena naturalist
imaginesa new wayof naturalizing
killedbears,as whenLaplace inventsa new way of calculating
error
inastronomers'
variations
readings.
Themobility
ofthetracesis as much
favoured
whena newsatellite
linkis established
betweentwodatabanks
as whenLinnaeusdevisesa newwayofcodinganyplantwithtwoLatin
words.The combinability
of thetracesis as muchenhancedwhena
Computer
AssistedDesignengineer
fusesonthesamescreentheshapes

22
a wayofmerging
ofa car'spartsandtheirprice,as whenMongeinvents
It is becauseof thelinks
defilading.
and fortress
geometry
descriptive
in variousdomainsthatcentresmayalso be
betweentheseinnovations
called 'centresof capitalization'.
Obviously,Einsteinis botha latecomerin thislong historyand a
information
to it.His obsessionwithtransporting
contributor
significant
hispassionfortheprecise
without
deformation;
transformations
through
sentaway
hispanicattheideathatobservers
ofreadings;
superimposition
not
could
mightbetray,mightretainprivileges,and sendreportsthat
delegated
be usedto expandourknowledge;hisdesireto disciplinethe
pieces of apparatusthatdo
observersand to turnthemintodependent
nothingbut watchthe coincidenceof handsand notches;even his
providedtheequivareadinesstojettisonwhatcommonsensecherishes
easyto see in what
is
it
Thus
chainsbe saved.
lenceofall metrological
history.
general
way Einstein'sworkpertainsto this
theremight
ofcentresofcalculation,
To assesshisroleinthishistory
milieu,
his
cultural
in
to
than
dig
way
andmorestraightforward
be another
capitalism
of
turn-of-the-century
infrastructure
or to see iftheeconomic
waybe 'mirrored'in whathe
and far-fetched
could in somedistorted
and without
he does directly
centres
for
the
does
does. WhatEinstein
relativity
general
and
special
the
if
that,
text
in
this
says
He
mediation.
sentby
the
reports
is
that
The
risk
is
a
risk.
there
are notaccepted,
speed
the
to
are
closer
which
reference
of
frames
to
delegated
observers
proposes
he
What
useless.
be
made
of light,or violently
accelerated,
in theway we delegateobservers,
is a seriesof 'minor'innovations
their
theirmessagesand translate
decode
information,
their
discipline
sincetheyare insertedin
Theyare minorinnovations
representations.
andremainmeaningless
ofcentresofcalculation,
a vastandlonghistory
thatare to be takenseriouslyif
withoutit. Still,theyare innovations
thatareaccelerated
decidetoresumetheirtravelstoframes
thesecentres
maynotbe newand
or close to thespeedoflight.Einstein'sinvention
butitis not
thegreatorganofmetaphysics,
enoughtotrigger
important
offered
enoughtobe simplyreducedtotheearliersolutions
insignificant
a precisebalance
travel'.We shouldstrike
to 'long-distance
bythecentres
his solution(revolutionin space and time 'out
betweenoverstating
ofthecentres'downhere').The
it(conservation
there')andunderrating
are
likethis:providedthetworelativities
balanceshouldbe something
withless privilegecan be accessed,
accepted,moreframesofreference
and combined,observerscan be delegatedto a
reduced,accumulated
large(thecosmos)and theinfinitely
fewmoreplaces in theinfinitely
His
theysendwillbe understandable.
andthereadings
small(electrons),

23
forBringing
Back Longbook couldwell be titled:'New Instructions
DistanceScientific
Travellers'.
thereis no better
To weightheimportance
ofcentresof calculation,
waythanto measurewhatEinsteinis readytojettisoninorderforthem
togo onatan expandedrateandscale. Whydoesmaintaining
equivalent
else should
observershavesuchparamount
thateverything
importance
be madesubservient
to it?(See Table 6). I indicated
abovethesolution
Thiscomparison
tothisquestionbythecomparison
withliberalism.
was
simplya metaphor
to helpgrasptheseemingparadoxthattiesthefight
againstprivilegeswiththeincreaseofprivileges.It is timeto see how
thesefights
againstprivilegesin economicsor in physicsare literally,
andnotmetaphorically,
thesame.If themanin thetrainsees different
- thisdifference
thingsthanthemanon theembankment
beingmade
- itmeans
thetworeports
visiblebythelackoffitwhensuperimposing
thatthereis no gainto be madeforthesecondbydealingwiththefirst.
Each has itsownautonomous
life,itsownviewof theworld,itsown
evaluationof quantities.
Each, in otherwords,is as weakor as strong
as anyother.Thereis no delegation,
no agreedchainofcommand,but
a democracyof pointsof view whereeveryone sees theothersas so
manyundisciplined
and intractable
bodies. If, on theotherhand,the
maninthetraindescribesscenesaccordingto instruments
which,after
a fewtransformations,
aremadeequivalent
totheonesseenbytheman
on the embankment,
thismeansthatthe latterwill gain something.
Without
beingon thetrain,themanon theembankment
willhave 'its'
pointof viewplus anotherone compatibleand addableto thefirst.Of
course,it is notthemanon theembankment
thatwe care about,but
theenunciator,
thelastoneinthelist,forwhomtheothersarecat'spaws.
In otherwords,ifitis possibletomakeall frames
ofreference
equivalent
(withrespectto a fewtransformations)
it is possibleto accumulateall
theothersin thelast frame.
Who is goingto benefitfromsendingall thesedelegatedobservers
to theembankment,
trains,raysoflight,sun,nearbystars,accelerated
lifts,theconfinesof cosmos?If relativism
is right,each one of them
willbenefit
as muchas anyother.Ifrelativity
is right,onlyoneofthem
(thatis, theenunciator,
Einsteinor someotherphysicist)
willbe able
to accumulatein one place (his laboratory,
his office)thedocuments,
reports
andmeasurements
sentbackbyall hisdelegates.Relativity
draws
thedesignof a centreof calculationfromwhich,and to which,paths
lead. It is not his privilegedpointof view thatgives a centreany
overotherlocations,butitsrejection
superiority
ofanyprivilegetoany
localpointofviewincluding
itsown,thuspermitting
thegathering
inone

24
traces.It is notbecauseit has a better

pointof all thesuperimposable
is betterable
viewofthecloudsfromitswindowsthattheSmithsonian
maps,butbecause,insteadoflookingthrough
tobuildup meteorological
insidedarkoffices.
reports
thewindows,theylookat theweathermen's
This rejectionof someprivilegesin orderto shoreup someothers,
thatEinsteinis a
throwsa rathernew lighton the usual argument
as bold
are oftenportrayed
Scientificrevolutionaries
revolutionary.
whobreakaway fromcommonsense. In Einstein'scase, the
thinkers
breakingaway fromGalilean framesof reference,fromNewtonian
rulers,slows
withwhichheshortens
absolutespaceandtime,theaudacity
downclocks,curvesspace and getsridof gravity,makeshimindeed
in science.It is becauseofthisaudacity
theepitomeofa revolutionary
tryto sneakintothephysics.
explanations
thatsocial and contextual
culture
in a revolutionary
Einstein,itis said, was an outcastimmersed
to contradict
poliiicalviewsdo nothing
andmilieu,andhis flamboyant
should,
revolutions
The notionof scientific
thesesocial explanations.
shouldthat
however,be takenwitha grainof salt; so, forthatmatter,
at how revolutionaries
18 Insteadof marvelling
of politicalrevolutions.
itwouldbe betterto see firstifthere
conservatives,
becomelatter-day
breakingaway fromorthodoxy.
is sucha thingas a revolutionary
us witha break
theauthorneverpresents
In thetextunderscrutiny,
butwitha choicebetweentwo ills:
fromtheusual ways of thinking,
become
absolutespaceandtimeandthelawsofnature
eitherwe maintain
theequivalenceofthelaws
places; or we maintain
indifferent
different
andwe 'discard'(p. 27) absolutespaceandtime.Thequestion
ofnature,
toconserve,
buthowtomaintain,
ourthinking
is nothowtorevolutionize
than
one thingthatappearsmoreimportant
to stabilize,to rigidify,
else. The authoris notcallingus to an upheavalof physics,
anything
- so as to
butto getridof a fewminorpoints- aether,simultaneity
letphysicsgo on itsancientwayon an expandedscale. The dramahe
butthatof thetestingand selection
unfoldsis notthatof a revolution
else to be
of the weakestpointthatshouldgive way foreverything
(see Table 6).
maintained
else foritthanto abandoneither
In viewofthisdilemmathereappearsto be nothing
oflightinvacuo. Those
orthesimplelaw ofthepropagation
ofrelativity
theprinciple
discussionarealmostsuretoexpect
followedthepreceding
ofyouwhohavecarefully
to the
whichappealsso convincingly
thatwe shouldretaintheprincipleofrelativity,
oflightin vacuo
becauseitis so naturaland simple.The law ofpropagation
intellect
totheprinciple
lawconformable
wouldthenhavetobe replacedbya morecomplicated
oftheoretical
physicsshows,however,thatwe cannot
The development
ofrelativity.
moreinclined
weretherefore
theoretical
physicists
pursuethiscourse. .. Prominent

25
in spiteofthefactthatno empiricaldatahadbeen
ofrelativity,
to rejecttheprinciple
to thisprinciple.
foundwhichwerecontradictory
ofrelativity
enteredthearena.As a resultofan analysis
At thisjuncturethetheory
thereis nottheleastincompatibility
oftimeandspace,itbecameevidentthatinreality
and thelaw ofpropagationof light[E.'s italics]
betweentheprincipleof relativity
could
andthatbysystematically
holding
fasttoboththeselawsa logicallyrigidtheory
be arrivedat. (p. 19, mystress)
indeedthatsacrifices
a beliefin orderto build
Strangerevolutionary
twoofthephysicists'
mostcherished
a rigidtheory
thatmaintains
beliefs
itis inthesamewayas thePrince
intact!IfEinsteinis a revolutionary,
so thateverything
remained
Salina,who wishedto changeeverything
thissimply
thesame.IfEinstein
appearstobreachan important
principle,
is thereby
Thequestion
meansthatsomething
moreimportant
conserved.
whatshould
tobe askedis this:givenwhatEinsteinwishesto maintain,
rather
be sacrificed?
Henceinthiscase, itis no use trying
todistinguish
- and thusit might
revolutionaries
fromconservatives
be a wasteof
timeto searchEinstein'sSwissmilieuforrevolutionary
influences.
In
thetrialof forcesdisplayedin theabovequotation,
one weakerlinkis
linkswhicharethusfortified
andexpanded
goingtobreak;thestronger
are whatneed watching.
An argument
is notsocial becauseit deals withsocietyand groups;
itis socialwhenittriesoutwhichtiesare stronger
andwhichonesare
weaker.This is whythemoremeta-linguistic,
themoreabstract,the
moretheoretical
is a study,thecloserwe are to theexplicitanalysisof
thethreecharacters
of immutability,
and combinability,
mobility
and
theeasieritis toofferan explanation
ofitintermsofcentresofcalculation. I startedby sayingthatempiricalsciencesappearedeasier for
sociologiststhanmoretheoretical
ones. We can now see thatthecase
is exactlytheopposite.Social studiesofscience,farfrombeinglimited
totheempirical
arebetter
disciplines,
equippedforthemoreformal
ones
becausethesedisciplinesoffer,in a way,a simpler,moredirect,and
moreexplicitcase. Whenwe gettotexts,suchas Einstein's,whichtalk
aboutthewaysofdescribing
anypossibleexperience,
we are closerto
our sociology,notfarther
fromit. Thatclosenessdepends,of course,
on thepreviousworkof redefinition
done on sociologyitself.
It is now clear thatwe no longercall 'social' sometranslation
that
wouldreplacethevocabulary
ofphysicists
bythevocabulary
ofsociologists,butrather
onethatforgesa hybrid
vocabulary
thatmakesthespeed
oflightc, or theLorentztransformation,
partofthenormalbusinessof
a society,whileitmakestheroleoftheenunciator
building
andofcentres
of calculationpartof the normalbusinessof elaborating
a scientific

26
do
in physics.Thismeans,ofcourse,thatwe, sociologists,
revolution
not know in advancewhatsocietyis made of. As Mike Lynchhas
thisadmissionof ignoranceis theonlywayof getting
demonstrated,19
insidethesciences.
further
A RelativisticSolutionto the Problemof Social Context
andofthepeculiar
The mainconsequencesofEinstein'sinfra-physics,
ofit,istoraise
mobilesI haveprovided
ofimmutable
interms
explanation
anewtworelatedproblems:whatdoes it meanto talkaboutthesocial
ofa science?Whatdoesitmeanto'sociallyexplain'a science?The
context
moretricky
whichiseasier,willbe usedtosolvethefirst,
secondquestion,
a sciencemeansthatwe shouldbe abletoestablishwith
one. Explaining
and
itaboutsociety
insucha waythatwelearnfrom
itmoreequalrelations
toteacha fewthingstothesciencewe aredealing
use ourowndiscipline
in
eventhough,
Thismoreequal statusshouldbe ourtouchstone
with.20
Thefecundity
mayappearludicrous.
sucha programme
thecaseofphysics,
willbe assessed
programme
strong
ofan accountinthisnewlyredefined
ofsocialuntilitis ona par with
thedefinition
byourabilitytotransform
withit.
ofthesciencestudied,andexchangesproperties
theverycontent
questionslikethisone:
One exampleofsuchan exchangeis toformulate
relativity?
fromEinstein's
learnaboutourrelativism
canwe,sociologists,
is as
thatmovement
(Galileo's argument
The principleof relativity
are various
thespecialand thegeneraltheoriesof relativity,
nothing),
The workof settingup
waysof givingbackmeaningsto descriptions.
outand in,
shifting
coordinates,
takingreadings,framing
instruments,
meaning.
is whatoffers
equivalences
messages,establishing
transcribing
andwhatheopposesto'relativism'.
calls'relativity',
Thisis whatEinstein
Absolutismand relativismare tied to one another,while relativity
realityby givingup absolutism.
reestablishes
Whatis thecase insocialstudiesofscience?It is exactlyparallel.We
of science;we refusemeaningto any
fightagainstabsolutedefinitions
not
does
that
portraytheworkof settingup laboratories,
description
we alwaysrelatetheword'reality'tothe
networks;
devices,
inscription
laboratoriesand specificnetworksthat
inside
trials
specific
specific
measureup theresistanceof some actants.Is thisa weakeningof the
inthesensethatall accountswould
Is thisrelativism
conceptofreality?
andunrelated?
No, inspiteofourcritiques
untranslatable,
be irreducible,
1- and to be fair,in spiteof a fewof our earlyclaims2
it is not.
thatEinstein,and forthesame reason.By
We are no morerelativist

27
fighting
absolutedefinitions
of observations
thatdo not specifythe
practicalworkand materialnetworks
thatgivethemmeaning,we take
as seriouslyas everyoneelse theconstruction
of reality- indeed,we
mightbe theonlyone to takeit seriouslyenough.
Is it thenpossibleto use Einstein'sargumentto reformulate
our
insucha waythatitis madeas clearlydifferent
relativity
fromrelativism
as Einstein's?To tacklethismostdifficult
pointwe haveto go backto
theactorialshiftdescribedabove, and to whatcreatesthedistinction
betweenfact-writing
andfiction-writing.
Einstein,inhistext,populates
hisworldwithmanyactants:ravens,trains,
clouds,menwithrigidrods,
lifts,marbletables,c, molluscs,andofcourseclocksand rulers- see
Table 2. Although
we are dealingwithwhatis called the'content'of
Einstein'sbookwe, thereaders,are meetinga greatmanyfigures
who
do all sortsofactions.Semioticsis thestudyofthesefigures
andactions.
Whathappensifwe go outsideofEinstein'stext- let'ssaytoFeuer's?
We findnewcharacters
likeEinstein'sparents,theOlympiaAcademy,
ErnstMach, fin-de-siecle
of generation,
Europe,conflicts
and so on.
We also findAlbertEinstein.Insteadofbeingtheenunciator
andauthor
of thetextunderstudy,he is nowtheobjectof Feuer'sexplanation,
a
realmanin hissocialandculturalcontext.Sociology,socialhistory
or
psycho-sociology
are someofthenamesofthedisciplineswhichstudy
suchcharacters
and social contexts.
Now, letus ponderwhattherelationis betweentheinsidecharacters
andtheoutsideones. Thisamounts
to following
up Einstein'squestion,
'Whatis therelationbetweenthemanon thetrainand themanon the
withthisquestion:'Whatis therelation
embankment?',
between
Einstein,
enunciator
of his text,and AlbertEinsteinin Feuer's story?'The two
relations
areprecisely
thesame.No matter
how'outside'and'contextual'
and 'historical'Feuermaywishittobe, hisAlbertEinsteinis a shiftedoutcharacter
insidehistextexactlyas themaninthetrainis inEinstein's
text.No matter
howsociologists
andhistorians
love toputtexts,ideas,
and eventsin theircontext,thiscontextis alwaysmadeup of shifted
characters
insideanothertext.Theycan add one textto another,but
notescape fromit. We have access to co-textsnotto context.
Thisis thebasisof whathas beencalled 'thesemioticturn':nothing
can be said of theenunciator
of a narration
ifnotin a narration
where
theenunciator
becomesa shifted-out
character.In consequence,there
is no difference
to be madein principle,
betweeninternal
sociologyhow to managethepopulationof actantsthatmakeup thecontentof
a text- and externalsociology- how to managethepopulationof
actantsthatmakeup thecontext
of a text.This is notto say thatmany

28
FIGURE 9
Co-Texts,not Context
Manin the train

Einstein(enunciator)
.
flt
Einstein (actor)
Context
Feuer(enunciator)
The creationof a contextin whichEinsteinis put

followsthesame rulesas thoseby whichEinstein
in his own account.
createsdelegatedcharacters
cannotbe drawn
quality,
conviction,
ofstyle,genre,richness,
distinctions
about'thepragmatic
betweentexts.It simplymeansthata statement
of a
contextof an utterance'is as devoidof meaningas thestatement
of thecoordinates.
stateof motionwithoutspecification
andthatofsemiotics,
thatofEinstein'srelativity
The twoprinciples,
referent
areoneandthesame.Theybothstatethattotalkofan external
ofthereportis devoidofmeaning.They
ofthestructure
independently
bothstatethatwe are alwaysin betweenat leasttwo framesand that
themorewe shouldexamine
thedeeperwe go intophysicsandcosmology
thatstagetheseframes.Theybothstate
of thenarration
theconditions
ofreportssent
ofrealityis builtinbythesuperimposition
thatan effect
to a thirdone.
fromat leasttwo framesof reference
whiletheotheris greeted
Whyis thefirstone acceptedwithgratitude
It is simplythat
withhorror,by naturalas well as by social scientists?
whichis so clearin the
andrelativity
betweenrelativism
theopposition
case-ofEinsteinhas notbeen made as clear in thecase of semiotics.
thequestion
The reasonforthislack of clarityis to be soughtthrough
of thereferent.
toweakenreality
is nota wayforEinstein
ofrelativity
Theintroduction
- buttheonlywayto strengthen
- thatis adequation
witha referent
it. Why?Because,as I haveshownabove,whenyoushiftin,it allows
reportsthatyou would
youto obtaina new fitbetweensuperimposed
is thenassessed
referent
The
internal
to
reject
relativity.
notgetwereyou
Of
theprice
referent'.
'underwritten
course,
the
above
I
called
what
by

29
oftheexternal
topayforthisaddedrealismis theabandonment
referent,
whichis an effectof thediscourseon thereader.
ofscience,saythatthereis no distincNow,whenwe, socialstudents
tionof principlebetweencontextand content,we do notmeanto say
thatall narrations
or eventhat
pertainto thegenreof fiction-writing,
all descriptions
are simply'texts'- as Frenchdeconstructionists
are
oftenpronetoclaim.We simplysaythatbyshifting
outandin,sociologists,historians,and social scientistsin general,build up internal
referents
as muchas anyotherrealistwriters.We onlyrepeatthatthe
external
referent
is an effect
ofthesediscourses
overtheirreaders.When
FeuercreatesAlbertEinstein
byshifting
outa character
ofthatname,he
mobilizes
documents
ofall sortstogivetheimpression
thathisstoryis not
madeup.Is thisanimpression
only?Itisimpossible
togobeyondnarration
andbeyondsomesuperimposition
ofdocuments
in orderto answerthe
question.Does thismeanthatthereis no touchstone
todecideifFeuer's
book fitsin anyway therealityof Einstein'syouthand background?
No. Anymorethanrelativity
meansa breakdownof communications
- quite
betweenthemanin thetrainand themanin theembankment
thecontrary.
FIGURE 10
Three Types of Referent
"EHternal
Internal
referent
Underwritten
referent
referent"
/~~~~~
Enunciator
"EHternal referent"
Enunciatee
Threetypesof referent
can be distinguished;
theimpression
of an external
referent
'out there'is obtained'downthere'by thesuperimposition
of the
underwritten
referent
withtheinternal
referent.
In bothcases the onlypaththatis leftopen is thatof the underwritten

referent.
Can you shiftin all theway back to Feuer's office

30
he mobilizesin his text

in some way thedocuments
and superimpose
is suchthatyou
withothers?If no, thentheboundaryof thenarration
thereis a nonsequitur,
haveonlya text;fromthetextto theenunciator
ofthetextis stretched
a gap. If yes,thenwhathappens?The boundary
is in place. Butwhodoes such
a network
in; thereis continuity,
further
tocheckthisultimate
Whogoestotheofficeofthewriter
a verification?
whois busyexpanding
writer
another
scientist,
Another
superimposition?
a continuouslink betweenthe
stillanothernetworkby establishing
readercouldwish
mobilizedinhistextandwhata potential
inscriptions
to see in hisoffice,werehe to check,and so on. In otherwords,there
devices
arethreethingswe cannotescapefrom:discourses,inscription
is commonto
This argument
and networks- thatis, infra-physics.
of it.
Einstein'stheoryand to our 'social' explanation
In otherwords,'social context'in currentsocial studiesof science
physics.22
playsthesamesortof roleas 'aether'forturn-of-the-century
and
networks
thatwouldsomehowsurround
This vastsocial structure
explanations
tosociologists'
toprovidea firmfoundation
seemsnecessary
thanthissubtleandinfinitely
is no moreprovableandno morenecessary
to
defendedforovera generation
firmly
elasticmilieuthatphysicists
Sociologistsalways
oftheirexplanations.
establishthefirmfoundation
wantto add the social context,and theythinkthatin a case study
toexplainthewhole
entity
is amissifthereis no larger-scale
something
in theiraccounts,
presented
thing.In practice,however,thecharacters
'longueduree', 'largeand whichbear thenameof 'social structure'
and thelike,are notbigger
interests',
scale influences','overarching
thanthelittleonestheytryto explain.A giantin a storyis nota bigger
things.Thesametwo-metrethana dwarf,itjustdoesdifferent
character
or an apple;no one willsay
a battlefield
mayrepresent
squarepainting
thanthesecond.Size is
thatthefirstis biggerand moreencompassing
and of theirrelations.
of characters,onlyof networks
nota property
mightnotbe muchbiggerthan
Society,in theaccountsof sociologists,
- atleastifwejudgefrom
theymake
theevocativegestures
a pumpkin
whentheytalkof the 'big picture'!
forsociologists
unnecessary
thatthis'aether'is entirely
We cangather
werewe reallyto stepoutsideof accounts
fromthissimpleargument:
we wouldbe limited
relatedto one anotherin a mannerof a network,
hicetnuncvision
our
own
of
ofall possiblepoint views,
tothenarrowest
to be intouch
we
have
to
see
the
picture',
we
want
'big
oftheworld.If
mediations,
many
device
through
that,
of
an
inscription
sort
withsome
a projectedpicture.If we step
elaborateslocallyand insidea network,
outsidetobe in touchwiththerealcontext- therealityoutsideofany

31
narration,
any network,and any discourse- thisis to be limitedto
one pointof view, to the smallestpicture,to whatwe see fromour
own unaidedand unmediated
body. Eitherthe 'big picture'is very
thatmakesit reallybig, or the'big
tinybutrelatedto a longnetwork
picture'is unrelated
toanyinstrument
andis reallyvery,verysmall(see
Figure 11). Away fromthe workof inscriptions,
subscriptions
and
no shifting
in and outwouldbe possible.We wouldbe
transcriptions,
limitedto a point.Arethesocialscientists
whowantus to placethings
in thebiggerframework
notaskingus to commitsuicide?Is it notthe
sameas forcing
us to eat and drinkonlyaether,underthepretext
that
it is thestapleof theuniverse?
FIGURE 11
The RelativeSizes of the 'Big Picture'
/i
()0 T
Perspective 1
No mediation
No delegation
'/
strument
etwor
Centre of calculation
"big picture"
Perspectiue 2
Mediations
Delegations
Eitherone abandonsnetworks
and is limitedto one's own unmediated
pointof
view, or one wishesto look at a biggerpicturebutthenhas to considerthe
end pointof a networkmadeup of long seriesof mediators.
The reasonwhythissimpleinfra-physical
argument
is so hardforsocial
scientists
tograsphastodo withanother
belief,thebeliefinabstraction.
Whentheyclaimthatthe'big picture'includesthesmallerones,they
do nottaketheword'picture'literally
butmetaphorically.
It means,for
them,a viewoftheworld,an abstraction
thatcannotbe reducedto the
lowlypracticesof buildinginscription
devices.
It is one ofthegreatpowersofEinstein'stextthatitalso throwslight
on theveryprocessofabstraction.
He is notonlya masterat managing
spatialandtemporalshifting,
he is also verygoodat thethirdshifting,
whichis called,as thereadermayrecall,theactorialone. For instance,

32
orwalkingmen
bytrainandembankment,
Einsteinreplacescoordinates
and sun (see
earth
by
embankment
and
by beams of light,or trains
are
replacedby
notions
abstract
which
by
process
Tables2 and4). The
It
or
figuration.
figurativity,
in
semiotics,
called,
is usually
characters
by
one
a
from
scientific
a
article
tell
popular
can
one
that
is oftensaid
thatplayparts
characters)
thenumberoffigures(humanor animal-like
a popular
is
writing
Einstein
that
it
seems
value,
face
At
in thestories.
all the
men
and
walking
trains
from
us
takes
slowly
book,becausehe
from
a
strict
hierarchy
following
thus
mathematics,
abstract
to
way
Lord,
the
like
that
Einstein,
claim
could
One
actants.
abstract
to
concrete
theweaknessofhisreaders,
but,knowing
structure
masterstheabstract
instead.
parables
and
stories
figures,
feedsthem
is as
forthethirdkindof shifting
However,Einstein'sinnovation
hierarchy
no
is
clearly
recognizable
There
others.
two
for
as
the
essential
toanothermore
inhistextfromonelevelofsimpleconcretemetaphors
aboutGaussiancoordinates,
argument,
one. The mostabstract
abstract
(p. 99). Whenhe builds
is also theone wherethemolluscis introduced
up a spaciouschestin themiddleof nowherethatis liftedby 'a being'
experiment
thought
forcewitha 'rope', thisabstract
a constant
through
whattheman
concerning
withveryconcretenotations
is supplemented
arenotadded
inthechestfeelsinhislegmuscles(p. 66). Thesenotations
readerswallowthepillofan abstract
forrealismso as tomakean ignorant
between
aboutthesimilarity
theyare crucialfortheargument
thought:
Even whenhe introduces
and feelinggravitation.
feelingacceleration
Minkowskispace(p. 57), itis tomakeitscoordinates
four-dimensional
again
reversing
'playexactlythesameroleas theEuclideancoordinates',
theorderbetweenlevels of abstraction.
The word'abstraction'in Einstein'stextdoes notreferto a certain
of selectingin and out
typeof figure,butto theverycommonactivity
For instance,he startswithtrains
thosedetailswhichare convenient.
is
and clocks.Then(p. 31) theembankment
mirrors
and embankment
bymeansofa frameandina verticaldirection
laterally
'supplemented
workof rods, so thatan eventwhichtakesplace anywherecan be
As tothetrain,itis elongated
tothisframework'.
localizedwithreference
'acrossthewholeof space, so thateveryevent,no matterhow faroff
tothesecondframework'.
itmaybe, couldalso be localizedwithrespect
andofthetrainhasalready
oftheembankment
thedescription
Although
lostsomerealism,theauthorcontinuesand 'disregard[s]thefactthat
witheachother,
interfere
wouldcontinually
theseframeworks
inreality
these
threetransAfter
bodies'.
of
solid
owingto theimpenetrability
become
have
embankment
of
the
and
train
of
the
the
figures
formations,

33
coordinates.
geometric
Arethesecoordinates
lessfigurative
thanthetrain
Aretheymoreabstract?
andembankment?
havedifferent
No, theysimply
detailsandkeeponlysomeoftheelementsofthetrain- thefirststory
ofthetrainhavingalreadyretained
butthebarestdetailsoftherailway
systemof turn-of-the-century
Switzerland.
To findpositionsfromone
system
ofcoordinates
toanother,
theauthoragainmodifies
thefiguration
- by
and replacesthegeometric
coordinates
by an algebraicnotation
Galileantransformation,
whichis a subsetoftheLorentzone whenthe
velocityof lightis infinite.
Are theseequationsmoreabstractor less
figurative
thanthetwoorthreeearlierones?No. Theylosedetailswhich
- likethecolourofthecurtains
wereconsidered
irrelevant
inthewagon
orthepriceoftheticket- andadd newdetailsdeemedmoreimportant
- likethepossibility
ofcalculating
foranyvalueofx thecorresponding
value of x'.
Themoststriking
aspectofthisreworking
ofthemeaning
ofabstraction
is offered
bytheconfusion
betweenthought-experiment
andtheexperimentswhich,he says,havetakenplace in a laboratory.
As a rule,the
realexperiments
havefewerdetailsandlookmorelikewhatwe would
call a thought-experiment
thanthelatter,whichare, on thecontrary,
vividlydescribed!For instance,Einsteinmoves fromthe equations
of Maxwell's transformation
to the experimental
that
scenography,
of Fizeau:
The tubeplays thepart of therailwayembankment
or of theco-ordinate
systemK,
theliquidplays thepart of thecarriageor of theco-ordinate
systemK', and finally
thelightplaysthepartofthemanwalkingalongthecarriage,or ofthemovingpoint
in thepresentsection.If we denotethevelocityof thelightrelativeto thetubeby
W,thenthisis givenbytheequation(A) or (B), according
as theGalileotransformation
[wherec is infinite]
or theLorentztransformation
[wherec is finite]corresponds
to
thefact.Experiment
decidesinfavorofequation(B) derived
fromthetheory
ofrelativity,
and theagreement
is indeedveryexact. (p. 40, mystress)
Is this new experimental

scene more figurative
thanthe thought
experiment
ofan elongatedtrain,or thewriting
downoftheequations?
No, and thedrawingthatdisplaysthisreal experimental
laboratory
is
themostabstractof all!
Hierarchies
betweendegreesoffiguration,
distinctions
betweenactual
andthought-experiments,
shifts
frompopularaccountstomoreabstract
- all thisdoes notinterest
ones,dividesbetweentheory
andexperiment
Einsteinmuch.In Figure12, Einsteindoes nottryto orderthemon a
scale fromconcretefiguresto abstract
ones. So whatis itthatinterests
himin shifting
fromone repertoire
of figuresto anotherone?

34

FIGURE 12
Non-HierarchicalSeries of Figurations
Swiss railwjaysystem
Fizeau's experiment-
Trainand embon ient
z Z Z
fluid
-0
-~,;II4~IiIIII
tube
V
Co-ordinates
x
K
~ ~~
~xxV=t
Galilean transformation
typeof humanor non-human-like

does notreferto one particular
Abstraction
movement
thenon-hierarchical
through
figures,butto whatis maintained
varioustypesof figures.
through
all thesetransformathrough
Whatcountsforhimis whatis maintained
tothenext.Goingfromtraintoembankment,
tionsfromone figuration
fromthemto equations,fromtheseto
fromthisstoryto coordinates,
and maybeback
fromtheseto realexperiments,
thought-experiments,
of trains- theonlyplace wherewe everexperience
to thecirculation
- this is whatis of paramount
regulartranslation
non-accelerated
counts,nottheorderofthe
oftheenunciator
The freedom
importance.
is also theveryquestiontackled
Butthisproblemoffreedom
figuration.
inthesameformthelaws
everywhere
inthetext:howcan onemaintain
forthe
to buildsomedegreeofuniversality
ofNature,so as practically
'metaphore'
word
the
that
toexpand?Ifwe remember
centre'snetworks
how fascinating
we understand
or transportation,
meansdisplacement
so much
to
transport
that
manage
of
these
metaphors
is Einstein'suse
withoutdeformation.
in thistext,does notdesignatea listofnon-human-like
Abstraction,
from
anyonelisttoanyotherthatkeeps
movement
buta reversible
figures,
whatwecall 'meaning'
intheprocess.Moreexactly,
intact
somemeaning
stories,and notone
through
is whateveris preservedin themovement
obtainedafterreachingat last one finalstory.This
of therepertoires
foroursociologyof scienceas the
is as important
semioticinnovation

35
The 'big picture'is not

otherone on thespatialand temporalshifting.
butin goingfromone frameto all the
givenin one frameofreference,
othersthrough
a network.
Operations
likethinking,
abstracting,
building
likesetting
are notaboveotherpracticaloperations
pictures,
up instruments,arrayingdevices,layingrods, butare in betweenthem.The
andsocialsciencestodescribemental
oftenusedbycognitive
vocabulary
does notdesignatea higherlevel
is misleading.Abstraction
operations
to another.It is
fromone repertoire
of figuration
buta fastcirculation
ofthenetworks.
ofthemind,itis a property
nota property
Byreworking
also thenotionof abstraction,
Einstein,in thepresenttext,showsus
evenwhenwe
a wayofneverleavingthefirmgroundofinfra-physics,
entertherealmof abstraction.
Conclusion
in theintroduction,
in opening,
Have we succeeded,as foreshadowed
thesemiotic
bookbyEinstein,
a more
through
studyofonesemi-popular
directandlesslaboriouswaytoresumethestrong
programme?
Although
theansweris to be leftto thereader,it shouldbe madeclearthatthis
questionhas now takenthe followingform:have we succeededin
establishing
a different,
moreequal, relationbetweensocial studiesof
scienceandEinstein's
To be sure,we learneda lotfrom
physics?
Einstein
forclarifying
ourowndefinition
ofsociety,ofrelativity,
ofcontext
and
of abstraction;
but did we teach Einsteinanything?
No matterhow
presumptuous
thequestionseemsto be, it is thenecessarycounterpart
ofthismoreequal statusthemethodrequests.My claimwouldbe that,
withouttheenunciator'sposition(hiddenin Einstein'saccount),and
withoutthenotionof centresof calculation,Einstein'sown technical
is ununderstandable;
argument
so is thereasonwhyhe prefersabove
all to maintain
theformsofthenaturallaws againstall transformations
ofspace,timeandcharacters.
The forcesthatholdhisargument
together
andthataccountforthepassiongenerated
inandbyhisarguments,
need
to be putback in place forthephysicsto makesenseat all. To push
the claim to its extremity,
the metrological
chainsvastlyexpanded,
accelerated,
transformed
andrecombined
byEinsteinare in oursocial23
space and notoursin his...
To demonstrate
thatthisargument
is notso presumptuous,
we could
showhowsimpleis thesolutionitoffers
to someproblems
ofinterpretationthathave plaguedEinsteinscholars.Einsteinlaterrecantedthe
Machianinterpretation
of specialrelativity,
and tookup a realistand

36
Did he
once he had reachedgeneralrelativity.
absolutistmetaphysics
changehis mind?Had he disguisedlaterhis interestfor Mach, or
earlierto be one of his disciples?Psychologicalor tactical
pretended
is right:
oncapitalization
ifmyargument
arenotnecessary
interpretations
back and forthto thecentre
once obedientdelegatesfloweffortlessly
of calculationa new semioticpositionis designedfora characterthat
without
anyproblemtheessenceofphysical
reaching
is an Einstein-God
reality.Once delegatesare totallydisciplinedtheycountas nothing.
mergeagain,inthesamewayas we can reach
andabsolutism
Relativity
longdistancephonecalls, no matterhow many
someoneelse through
aligned
providedtheyareatoncepresent,
delegateswe haveinbetween,
occurswhenwe turnto thisother
The sameclarification
and faithful.
- thatis, hisrejection
ofquantum
ofEinsteinscholarship
commonplace
joined the
mechanics'philosophy.How come thatthisrevolutionary
camp? Did he become less flexiblewithage? Again,
traditionalists'
is
are too shallow.If theabove argument
interpretations
psychological
to
want
when
discipline
meannothing
you
andflexibility
revolution
right,
of quantummechanicsredelegatesonce and forall. The philosophy
and active
whatEinsteinhad foughtall along:independent
introduced
This
they
observe...
what
that
influenced
so activeindeed they
observers,
be
had
to
opposed.
relativism
revivalof

37
* SEMIOTIC INVENTORY (ABRIDGED)
TABLE 1
in Einstein'sText
ListoftheMarksofEnunciation
theauthor-in-the-text
(onlythemarksthatpersonify
or thereader-in-the-text
are notedbelow)
ENUNCIATOR
(Author)
ENUNCIATEE
(Reader)
'you read' p. 1
'you rememberwithmore respect'
'you were chased by conscientious teachers'
'you would regardwithdisdairn'p. 1
'we feelconstrained'p.2
'IfI analyse' p.5

'I load myconscience withgrave sin' p.9
'I stand at the window'
'I ask' 'we shun...we replace... we must honestlyacknowledge'
we mustspecify'p. 10
'who would imagine'p. 17
'the thoughtful
physicistplunged intothe greatestdifficulties'
'IfI ask you' p.21
you willanswer 'yes"
'IfI now approach you'
'you finditnotso easy'
'I cannot be satisfied'
'I allow myselfto be deceived as a physicist'p.22
'I would ask the reader notto proceed further'
the matteryou offer'
'afterthinking
'I am verypleased'
'you cast a disdainfulglance at me' p.23
'these resultsmuststrikeyou' p.38
'seized by a shuddering'p.55
every intellectmustfeelthe temptation'p.61
'oughtwe to smile at the man?' p 67
'I mustwarnthe reader against a misconception'p.69
no person can restsatisfied'p.71
'I am standingin frontof a gas range' p.72
'I dare notwitholditfromthe reader' p.78
'I am guiltyof a certainslovenliness' p.79
'thislays no small claims on the patience ofthe reader'id.
'the reader willappreciate' p.83
'ifhe is nottoo pedantic'
' am thankfully
surprised'p.84
'The reader may be anxious' p.94
'Aftermatureconsiderationthe reader wilt admit'p 95

38

TABLE 2
List of Some of the ImportantActants
objects
Important
I and11
'Rods'chapter
'Earth'Clouds''Poles'p.6
Square,London'
'Trafalgar
stone'p.9
'falling
Train',
'embankment'
'clocks'p.
10
'trajectory'
'fixed
stars'p.11
'thelawofinertia'
'a raven'p.12
'thenoteemitted
byan organpipe'p.11
carriage'
p.16
'ouroldfriend
therailway
p.21
'Lightning'
inclined
at90'' p.22
oftwomirrors
'arrangement
p.33
'Galileitransformation'
transformations'
'Lorentz
'world'
p.55
carriage'
has 'brakes'p.62
'ouroldfriend
therailway
'gravitation'
p.63
'stones''magnetic
fields'
'earth'p64
a room''hook''ropes'p.67
'a spaciouschestresembling
'a gas range''a fire'
'a pan'p.72
'a planecircular
diskwhich
rotates'
p.79
'a marble
table'p.83
p.83
rodsofequallengths'
*alargenumber
oflittle
a heatedmarble
tablep.85
p.87
'Gaussianco-ordinates'
'mollusc
ofreference'
Humanlikeactants
Ainthetrain'
p.9
ontheembankment'
'pedestrian
la maninthetrain'
De Sitter'
'theDutchastronomer
p.17
'H.A.Lorentz'
p.19
'an ablemeteorologist'
p.21
inthetrain'
p.25
'peopletravelling
inthetrain'
'an observer
p.28
Fizeau'p.39
'thebrilliant
physicist
p.55
'Minkowski'
'anobserver''a being'p.66
ofthetheory
ofrelativity'
p.76
'opponents
whois sitting
'an observer
p79
eccentrically'
whois atrest'p.80
'anobserver
Authorities
'Asis wellknown'
p.11
'Thisis a
suchanisotropic
haveneverrevealed
properties
observations
'Themostcareful
5
infavour
oftheprinciple
ofrelativity'p.1
argument
powerful
p.17
greatexactnessthatthisvelocity'
'Every
childatschoolknows'Weknowwith
theoretical
showthat'Prominent
ofH.ALorentz...
investigations
theoretical
'Theepochmaking
toreject...'p.19
weretherefore
moreinclined
physicists
sincethenbysomeofthebestexperimental
physicisis
'hasbeenrepeated
Fizeau'smeasurement
so thattherecanbe nodoubtaboutitsresult'
p.39
ofequationB' p. 40
decidesinfavour
'Experiment

39
TABLE 3
Work of Inscribing,Subscribing,Transcribing
'Thepractice
ofseeingina 'distance'
twomarked
ona practically
positions
rigid
body'p.3
'weunderstand
itsvalidity
fora construction
with
ruler
andcompasses'
'Wecan mark
offthedistance
S timeafter
time'p.5
a pole'p.7
'erecting
'attaching',
'dropping',
'manipulating'
p.7
'IfI weretobe commissioned
todetermine
intheactualcase two
whether
byobservations
eventstookplacesimultaneously'
p.21
'Thisobserver
with
shouldbe supplied
an arrangement
efmirrors'
p.22
Inthismanner
'Weunderstand
ofan eventthereading...
bythe'time'
a time-value
is associated
with
every
event'p.24
'Anobserver...marking
rodina straight
offhismeasuring
linesmanytimesas is necessary
to
takehimfrom
totheother.
theone marked
Thenthenumber
which
point
tellsus howoften
the
rodhas tobe laiddownis therequired
distance'
p.28
'Themagnitudes
morenorlessthantheresults
ofmeasurements
obtainable
x,y,z,tarenothing
bymeansofmeasuring-rods
andclocks'p.36
'Thefour
a prounounced
dimensional
continuum...shows
tothethree
relationship
dimensional
continuum
ofEuclidean
geometrical
space....Wemustreplacetheusualtimeco-ordinate
tbyan
imaginary
magnitude...' p.57
'anobserver
with
equipped
apparatus'
p.66
'tension
ofa rope'p.67
Building
upsquareswith
ropesonmarble
tablep.83
'To everypoint
ofa continuum
areassignedas manynumbers...as
thecontinuum
hasdimensions.
Thisis doneinsucha way,thatonlyonemeaning
canbe attached
totheassignment'
p.90
'Every
physical
description
resolvesitself
intoa number
ofstatements,
eachofwhich
refers
to
thespace-time
coincidence
oftwoeventsA andB' p.95
'Thusinreality
thedescription
ofthetime-space
continuum
bymeansofGaussco-ordinates
with
theaidofa bodyofreference'
completely
replacesthedescriptions
p.96
'Welearnthebehaviour
ofmeasuring-rods
andclocksandalsooffreely-moving
material
points
transformation'
...simply
bymathematical
p.100
TABLE 4
Figurativity
'wesee thatitwillbe advantageous
if,inthedescription
ofa position,
itshouldbe possibleby
meansofnumerical
measurestomakeourselves
independent
oftheexistence
ofmarked
positions
(possessingnames)on therigid
bodyofreference'
p.7
theflying
inan abstract
raven:'Expressed
manner
we maysay:Ifa massm is moving
uniformly...'
p.12
'Nowinvirtue
inanorbit
ofitsmotion
aroundthesunourearthis comparable
witlh
a railway
a velocity
ofabout30 kmpersecondp.15
carriage
travelling
with
train
andembankment
'Weshallimagine
thattheairaboveittohavebeenremoved...
Therayof
light
playsthepartofthemanwalking
alongrelatively
tothecarriage'
p.18
wehaveonlyconsidered
'Uptothepresent
eventstaking
placealongtheembankment,..we
can
imagine
thisreference
bodysuppplemented
laterally
bymeansofa framework
ofrods''wecan
imagine
thetrain
..continued
acrossthewholeofspace' wecandisregard
thefactthatinreality
theseframework
wouldcontinually
interfere'
p.31
'Inplaceofthemanwalking
insidethecarriage
weintroduce
a pointmoving
relatively
tothe
co-ordinate
systems'
p.38
'Thetubeplaysthepartoftherailway
embankment
oroftheco-ordinate
system
K,theliquid
playsthepartofthecarriage
oroftheco-ordinate
system
thelight
playsthepart
K',andfinally
ofthemanwalking
orofthemoving
inthepresent
alongthecarriage,
point
section.
'p.40
'Thenatural
lawssatisfying
thedemandsofthespecialtheory
ofrelativity
assumemathematical
inwhich
forms,
thetimeplaysexactly
thie
sameroleas thethreespaceco-ordinates'
p.57
'Bymeansofpurely
theoretical
operations
(i.e.simply
bycalculation)
wearethenabletofind...'
p.74

40
TABLE 5
Main ShiftingsOut and In Associatedwitha Scenography
p.4 et seq.: sequence at TrafalgarSquare ofa man equipped witha rodbuildingup thescaffold
necessary forany eventto be transformed
in readings;
p.9 et seq.: sequence oftheauthorthrowing
a stone froma trainwhilea pedestrianon the
embankment
observes; thetwocharactersthentryto make theirobservationscoincide(shifting
in).
p.10.: sequence whichmakes eitherthestarsor theearthmove intoa circledependingon the

pointofreferencechosen.
p.12: sequence oftheflying
ravenabove a trainobserved bytheman inthetrain.
p.16: sequence oftheman walkinginthetrainwhilethe manon theembankmenttriesto measure
hisvelocityrelativeto thetrainand relativeto theembankment.
man inthe
p.21 et seq.: sequence of theheated discussionsbetweentheauthor,meteorologists,
todecide ifeventsare simultaneous
train,and man on theembankment,
p.26.: same sequence butwithbeams oflight
p.27.: sequence ofthe man measuringthetrainwitha rodwhilethe manon theembankmenttries
to superimposehis own measurementofthetrain.
p.31: sequence ofthetransformation
ofa trainembankmentscene intoa co-ordinatesystem.
whichis superimposedto thetrainembankmentearlier
p.40: sequence of Fizeau's experiment
scenes.
imaginedin itbythe man
p.66 et seq.: sequence ofthe acceleratedchest and oftheexperiments
and outofitby anotherobserverat rest;theauthorand thereadersare makingcommentson the
errorstheybothmake.
p.72: sequence oftheauthorpuzzlingover a gas range.
to be done witha solar eclipse.
p.75: sequence ofa plannedexperiment
TABLE 6
List of the Main Trials and Structureof the Text
Maintained through trials
Eliminated through trials Dilemmas

is out (p.3)
absolute truth
absolute space is out (p.8)
naturalphenomenaruntheircourses
accordingto thesame generallaws:
pririciple
ofrelativity
p.13
ofrelativity
eitherwe rejecttheprinciple
thatdetectno r6leforthedirectionofmotionp.15
or theexperiments
disprovenby
principleofrelativity
no experiment
p.15 p.19
of
Dramatisation:eitherwe rejecttheprinciple
relativity
or we rejectthewellestablishedspeed oflightp.19
Resolution
of the drama: 'Enter
the
theory of relalivity...
ofrel.and thespeed of lighti

betweentheprinciple
No incompatibility
absolute timeis out p.26
whatis keptis simultaneity
relativeto a referencebodyp.26
absolutedistanceis outp.27
let'sdropindependencefromtheconditionofmotionp.30

41
thetheoremofthe
How shouldwe modify
of rel.?p.30
additionofvelocitiesto keep theprinciple
p.33
whatis keptis Lorentz'stransformation
Let'skeep Fizeau's resultabout speed oflightp.41
p.42
Classical mechanicsis transformed
is out
Principle ofrelativity
Object of value:
'General laws of natureare co-variant
withrespect to Lorentz transformation'
p.43
Aetherand spec;allyfavouredco-ordinatesare outp.53
*Timeis robbedofitsindependence'p.56
p.57
formulation
Whatis keptinpracticeis Minkowski's
without
him'wouldnothave got
Relativity
thanitslongclothes'p.57
farther
and
rectilinear
thanuniform
Let'sgo further
nonrotarymotionsp.61
New trial:Can we do itforall bodies ofreference?p.61
We seem forcedto discardthetheoryofrel.and grant
motionsp.62
absolute physicalrealityto non-uniform
is discardedp.69
Distinction
betweeninertiaand gravitation
p.72
Classical mechanicsand theoryofrel.are unsatisfactory
laid inthedust? p.76
Dramatisation:Is thetheoryofrelativity
butsurvives
The special theoryis notoverthrown
intheotheras a limiting
case p.77
itselfis called intoquestionp.82
Itseems thatgeneralrelativity
Cartesianco-ordinatesare out p.85
Gaussian co-ordinatesare keptp.87
The law oftheconstancyofthevelocityof light
cannotbe maintainedp.93
Whatlead us in thespecial theoryof rel.is invalidatedp.93
Exitthe Euclideancontinuum
DescriptionwilhGaussian co-ordinates
replaces Euclideancontinuap.96
Final dramatisation:thegeneraltheoryhas to be
rigidreferencebodies p.97
without
reformulated
Rigidreferencebodies out
Object of value:
'All Gaussian co-ordinatesystems
are essentially equivalent forthe formulation
of the general laws of nature'p. 97
Final heroes who passed throughall trials:
Molluscswho have equal rightsand equal success,
laws whichare independentofthechoice ofthemollusc,
whichlies initscomprehensivelimitation
p.99
thegreatpowerof relativity

42

* NOTES
oftheirhero.The main
portrayal
I apologizetoall Einsteinscholarsforthis'underrealist'
discussionswithMichelCallon, Isabelle
ideas of thispaperhavebeenobtainedthrough
on
to NMannar
Hammadforhisinsights
Stengersand FrancoisBastide.I am also grateful
defenceofrealism.MikeLynch,
forhisspirited
andtoJimGriesemer
observers,
delegated
on thefinaldraft.I thankGeoffrey
usefulcomments
TrevorPinchandLeighStarprovided
against
bytheargument
unconvinced
theEnglish.He was so entirely
Bowkerforcorrecting
'appuresi muove.. .'!
social contextthathe simplymuttered
workof David Bloor,Knowledgeand Social Imagery(London:
1. See thepioneering
Routledge& Kegan Paul, 1976); Sal Restivo,'The Social Rootsof PureMathematics:
to theSociologyof Ideas and Minds' (mimeo,1986); andthefieldstudy
A Contribution
(London:
Foundationsof Mathematics
of Eric Livingstone,The Ethnomethodological
butmorecomplete,muchmoreempirically
Routledge& KeganPaul, 1985). A different
andPractice(Cambridge:
Cognition
is tobe foundinJ.Lave, Culture,
argument
grounded
Press,in press).
CambridgeUniversity
see B. Latour,ScienceinAction
oftheprincipleof symmetry,
2. For thisredefinition
Press, 1987).
(MiltonKeynes,Bucks.: Open University
A Politicoof France, followedby Irreductions:
3. B. Latour,The Pasteurization
Press,in press).
Essay (Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversity
Scientific
ofScience(New York:Basic Books,
4. See L. S. Feuer,Einsteinand theGenerations
aspectsin Feuer's book aboutthe notionof
1974). Thereare manyotherinteresting
thatI haveno roomto do justiceto here.
betweengenerations,
and conflicts
revolution,
TheSpecialand the
thefollowing
edition:A. Einstein,Relativity:
5. I use throughout
GeneralTheory(London:Methuen,firstedn 1920,paperback1960). All page numbers
referto thisedition.
ofscientific
texts,see F. Bastide,'Introduction
tothesemiotics
6. Foran introduction
mimeo,1985).
Texts'(Paris:Centrede Sociologiede l'Innovation,
ofScientific
toSemiotics
ofthetermsused in thispaper,see A. GreimasandJ. Courtes,trans.
For thedefinition
IN: Indiana
(Bloomington,
Dictionary
and Language:Analytical
L. Chrisetal., Semiotics
Press, 1983).
University
literature.
ApartfromBastide,
nowexistsonthescientific
7. A largebodyofliterature
op. cit.note6, see M. Callon,J.Law andA. Rip (eds),MappingtheDynamicsofScience
(London:Macmillan,1986).
and Technology
andSociety:
inH. Kuklick(ed.), Knowledge
andCognition',
8. B. Latour,'Visualisation
Studiesin theSociologyof CulturePast and Present,Vol. 6 (1986), 1-40.
andcognition,
oftheworkdoneatthetimeonvisualization
collection
9. Foranextensive
etconnaissance
see B. LatourandJ.de Noblet(eds), Les 'Vues'de 1'esprit,Visualisation
Culturetechnique,No. 14 (1985); see also M. Lynch,'Disciplineand the
scientifique,
Social StudiesofScience,
Visibility',
MaterialFormofImages:An AnalysisofScientific
Vol. 15 (1985), 37-66.
10. Greimas& Courtes,op. cit. note6.
by
well awarethatthispaperdependson a Machianinterpretation
11. I am perfectly
thathe laterrecanted:see G. Holton,Thematic
Einsteinofhisownwork,an interpretation
Keplerto Einstein(Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversity
Thought:
OriginsofScientific
Press,1973). Once again,semioticsis concernedwithwhatthetextdoes, notwithwhat
thinks.
theenunciator

43
see M. Hammad,
12. On thesemioticreasonwhythisthirdframeis alwaysnecessary,
Vol. 7, No. 33 (1985), 37-45. Most
'Le petitbonhomme
d'Ampere',inActessemiotiques,
of theinertiaprincipleare relatedto the
of thedifficulties
relatedto theancienthistory
existenceoftwoframesonly;thesolutionis alwaysto add a thirdframethatcollectsthe
information
sentbythetwoothers:see M. A. Tonnelat,Histoireduprincipede relativite
(Paris: Flammarion,1971).
liketheFrench
13. Literally,whatis written
underanotherwriting.'Underwritten',
word'souscription',
also meansthepledgethatothersubscribers
or underwriters
make
to supportsomeone'scredit.
14. This is notwhatsemioticians,
obsessedby literary
texts,usuallydo, butit is one
of theextensions
thatit is necessaryto maketo Greimas'ssemioticsin orderto be true
to his own claims(see, below,therelatedargument
aboutcontext).
attheSmithsonian,
1847-1874:
15. I amfollowing
hereJamesR. Fleming,'Meteorology
TheNaturalHistory
Connection',
paperpresented
atthe1986HSS/SHOT/PSA/4S
Meeting
(Pittsburgh,
PA, October1986).
16. See themarvellous
paperbyL. Star,J.Griesemer
andE. Gerson,'LinkingConcepts
withWorkOrganization:
NaturalHistoryand EcologicalTheory',presented
at the1986
HSS/SHOT/PSA/4S
Meeting(Pittsburgh,
PA, October1986),ontheproblem
ofdisciplining
naturalists
and trappers.Classic examplesof the necessityto disciplineobserversin
orderto buildlong-distance
networks
maybe foundin A. Chandler,The VisibleHand
(Cambridge,MA: The BelknapPressof HarvardUniversity
Press,1977). As expected,
a completereworking
ofinscriptions,
ofrailroadsrequired
theverybuilding
subscriptions
now perfected,'quotes Chandler(104), 'the
and transcriptions:
'By an arrangement
superintendent
[oftherailroad]cantellatanyhourintheday,thepreciselocationofevery
car and engineon theline of theroad,and thedutyit is performing.'
17. See Latour,op. cit. note2. See also J. Law, 'On theMethodsof Long-Distance
Control'in Law (ed.), Power, Actionand Belief:A New Sociologyof Knowledge,
No. 32 (London:Routledge
& KeganPaul, 1986),234-63;
SociologicalReviewMonograph
and Star,Griesemer& Gerson,op. cit. note 16.
18. Fora critiqueofthepoliticalnotion,see F. Furet,Penserla Revolution
Francaise
as Interpreting
theFrenchRevolution
(Paris: Gallimard,1978), translated
(Cambridge:
see Holton,op. cit.note11.
Cambridge
University
Press,1981);aboutthescientific
notion,
19. M. Lynch,in his Artand Artifact
in LaboratoryScience:A Studyof Shop Work
and Shop Talkin a ResearchLaboratory(London:Routledge& KeganPaul, 1985),has
presented
themostradicalcritiqueso farofthe'social science'usedto implement
social
studiesofscience.His mainargument
is thatthereis nothing
socialinthecontent
ofscience
butitsverytechnicalcontentitself.Imposingsociologicalnotionsis thuseithera trivial
repetition
ofthesociologists'prejudices,
oran ignorance
ofthespecifictechnical
content.
20. Thisappearstome,atthemoment,
tobe theonlysolution
tothevariousdifficulties
raisedby theproblemof reflexivity
(see S. Woolgar[ed.], Knowledgeand Reflexivity
[London:Sage, in press]),and by thesymmetry
betweennatureand society.Since we
a repetition
shouldofferneither
ofthetribe'slanguage,nora metalinguistic
explanation,
some sortof hybridization
is necessary.
21. See especiallyH. Collins's asymmetric
argument
thatNatureplaysno role,but
societya majorone, in thesettlement
of scientific
controversy,
in his ChangingOrder:
Replication
and Induction
inScientific
Practice(London:Sage, 1985).Theclassicversion
remainsBloor,op. cit.note1. Thispresentation
ofrelativity
shouldnotbe confusedwith
theprincipleof irreducibility
I haveoffered
earlier(op. cit. note3, secondPart,2.1.1).

44
The buildingup ofequivalencesis whatinterested

methere.Here,themainmetrological
chainsthatkeep equivalencealignedare alreadyin place.
22. For a recentpresentation
ofthe'aether'argument
aboutthenecessary(macroand
Marxist)contextofall socialstudiesofscience,see S. Russell,'The Social Construction
ofArtefacts:
A Responseto PinchandBijker',Social StudiesofScience,Vol. 16, No. 2
(May 1986), 331-46.
Bruno Latour is Associate Professorat the Centre de

Sociologie de l'innovationat I'Ecole des Mines de Paris. He
has recentlypublished Science in Action (Open University
Press, 1987), and The Pasteurizationof French Society
(Harvard UniversityPress, 1987). His currentareas of
interestinclude social historyof French science.
Author's address: Centre de Sociologie de l'innovation,Ecole
Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris, 62 Boulevard SaintMichel, 75006 Paris, France.


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A Relativistic Account of Einstein's Relativity

Author(s): Bruno Latour

This content downloaded from 119.15.93.148 on Thu, 17 Jul 2014 05:02:41 AM

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Social Studiesof Science

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of social and psychologicalconcepts- such as upbringing,

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Social Studiesof Science

For instance,inphraseslike 'thattrainarrivedin at seven

inandoutis commontoall narrations,

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'I was mostimpressedby thelistPoirothad madeof all thepotential

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semioticcharacterin thetext- own irreducible

The meaningof space, thatof timeand thatof a description

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itsimpetus(see Table 6). To understand

In Einstein'stext,we also have to graspthesame relationbetween

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(clocksandrulers)is nowpaidto the

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/7;?o17 IA, embeklra

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of the gain, thepaperworkimposedby the

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The devil take the rigidity

Eitherthelaws are dependent

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withtimeand space does notlead, as

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traces.It is notbecauseit has a better

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Manin the train

The creationof a contextin whichEinsteinis put

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In bothcases the onlypaththatis leftopen is thatof the underwritten

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he mobilizesin his text

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Bruno Latour - A Relativistic Account of Einstein's Relativity

Bruno Latour - A Relativistic Account of Einstein's Relativity