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In recent decades science has experienced a revolutionary shift. The development and extensive application of computer modelling and simulation has transformed the knowledge¿making practices of scientific fields as diverse as aströphysics, genetics, robotics and demography. This epistemic transformation has brought with it a simultaneous heightening of political relevance and a renewal of international policy agendas, raising crucial questions about the nature and application of simulation knowledges throughout public policy.
Through a diverse range of case studies spanning over a century of theoretical and practical developments in the atmospheric and environmental sciences, this book argues that computer modelling and simulation have substantially changed scientific and cultural practices and shaped the emergence of novel 'cultures of prediction'.
Making an innovative, interdisciplinary contribution to understanding the impact of computer modelling on research practice, institutional configurations and broader cultures, this volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of climate change and the environmental sciences.
List of contents
1. Introduction 2. Key Characteristics of Cultures Prediction Matthias Heymann, Gabriele Gramelsberger, and Martin MahonyPart I: Junctions: Science and Politics of Prediction 3. Calculating the Weather: Emerging Cultures of Prediction in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-century Europe Gabriele Gramelsberger 4. Which Design for a Weather Predictor? Speculating on the Future of Electronic Forecasting in Post‐War America Christoph Rosol 5. A New Climate: Hubert H. Lamb and Boundary Work at the UK Meteorological Office Janet Martin‐Nielsen 6. From Heuristic to Predictive: Making Climate Models Political Instruments Matthias Heymann and Nils Hundebøl 7. How to Develop Climate Models? The "Gamble" of Improving Climate Model Parameterizations Hélène Guillemot Part II: Challenges and Debates: Negotiating and Using Simulation Knowledge 8. The (Re)emergence of Regional Climate: Mobile Models, Regional Visions and the Government of Climate Change Martin Mahony 9. Bellwether, Exceptionalism, and Other Tropes: Political Coproduction of Artic Climate Modeling Sverker Sörlin, Ralf Döscher, Annika E. Nilsson and Nina Wormbs 10. From Predictive to Instructive: Using Models for Geoengineering Johann Feichter and Markus Quante 11. Validating Models in the Face of Uncertainty: Geotechnical Modeling and Dike Vulnerability in the Netherlands Matthijs Kouw 12. Tracing Uncertainty Management Through Four IPCC Assessment Reports and Beyond Catharina Landström 13. The Future Face of the Earth: The Visual Semantics of the Future in the Climate Change Imagery of hte IPCC Birgit Schneider
About the author
Matthias Heymann is Associate Professor for the history of science and technology at the Centre for Science Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Gabriele Gramelsberger is a Professor for philosophy of digital media at the University Witten/Herdecke, Germany.
Martin Mahony is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Geography, University of Nottingham.
