Robert K. Merton

Craig Calhoun is president of the Berggruen Institute. He was previously director and president of the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he remains Centennial Professor.

In this stimulating and informative volume, leading sociologists explain the range and lasting significance of Robert K. Merton's research for contemporary social science. An important read for those who want to build on the shoulders of giants without reinventing the wheel. -- Michele Lamont, Harvard University American sociology over the past century probably owes more to Robert K. Merton than to any other scholar. He taught whole generations of us how to see the world sociologically, think about it sociologically, and study it sociologically. The essays that make up this book, opening with the masterful introduction by its editor, Craig Calhoun, approach Merton from a number of different vantage points, and together they provide a striking intellectual portrait of this very special person. -- Kai Erickson, Yale University Craig Calhoun and his colleagues delve into the vast depths of Robert K. Merton's relatively unfamiliar writings, including those that are unpublished, and present us with an astonishingly complex and germane vision of sociological inquiry. -- Margaret R. Somers, University of Michigan This collective work is a carefully crafted redescription of the intellectual 'travels and adventures' of one of the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century. Following Robert K. Merton's definition of serendipity, the reader will find unanticipated observations yielding an unanticipated kind of new knowledge. The book succeeds brilliantly in integrating the multifaceted yet deeply interconnected sociocognitive and semantic strands of the Mertonian oeuvre. With exceptional clarity, untapped conceptual resources for contemporary and future sociology are rendered visible. -- Helga Nowotny, president, European Research Council It is refreshing when more extensive exegesis of a sociological theorist's work is developed and published in such a well-constructed volume. Contemporary Sociology This wide-ranging and thoughtfully conceived compilation opens up new and fresh perspectives on Merton's work. Acta Sociologica

• Preface Introduction: On Merton's Legacy and Contemporary Sociology, by Craig Calhoun, Social Science Research Council and New York University 1. Reflections on a Common Theme: Establishing the Phenomenon, Adumbration, and Ideal Types, by Alejandro Portes, Princeton University 2. Mechanisms of the Middle Range, by Charles Tilly, Columbia University 3. Eliding the Theory/Research and Basic/Applied Divides: Implications of Merton's Middle Range, by Robert J. Sampson, Harvard University 4. The Contributions of Robert K. Merton to Culture Theory, by Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, City University of New York 5. Culture and Uncertainty, by Viviana A. Zelizer, Princeton University 6. "Paradigm for the Sociology of Science", by Thomas F. Gieryn, Indiana University 7. A Critical Reconsideration of the Ethos and Autonomy of Science, by Aaron L. Panofsky, University of California 8. Merton, Mannheim, and the Sociology of Knowledge, by Alan Sica, Pennsylvania State University 9. The Ethos of Science and the Ethos of Democracy, by Ragnvald Kalleberg, University of Oslo 10. Merton's Sociology of Rhetoric, by Peter Simonson, University of Colorado 11. On Sociological Semantics as an Evolving Research Program, by Harriet Zuckerman, Mellon Foundation 12. How Merton Sociologizes the History of Ideas, by Charles Camic, Northwestern University List of Contributors Index