Loet Leydesdorff
Loet Leydesdorff (Ph.D. Sociology, M.A. Philosophy, and M.Sc. Biochemistry) is Professor for "Communication and Innovation in the Dynamics of Science and Technology" at the Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR) of the University of Amsterdam. He is Visiting Professor of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) in Beijing, Honorary Fellow of the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the University of Sussex, and at the Virtual Knowledge Studio of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has published extensively in systems theory, social network analysis, scientometrics, and the sociology of innovation (see for a list of publications at http://www.leydesdorff.net/list.htm ). In 2006, he published The Knowledge-Based Economy: Modeled, Measured, Simulated (Boca Rotan, FL: Universal Publishers). Previous monographs are: A Sociological Theory of Communication: The Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society (2001) and The Challenge of Scientometrics: The development, measurement, and self-organization of scientific communications (1995). With Henry Etzkowitz, he initiated a series of workshops, conferences, and special issues about the Triple Helix of University-Industry-Government Relations. He received the Derek de Solla Price Award for Scientometrics and Informetrics in 2003 and held “The City of Lausanne” Honor Chair at the School of Economics, Université de Lausanne, in 2005. In 2007, he was Vice-President of the 8th International Conference on Computing Anticipatory Systems (CASYS’07, Liège).
Phone: +31-20-5256598
Address: Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam, PO Box 15793, 1001 NG AmsterdamThe Netherlands
Phone: +31-20-5256598
Address: Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam, PO Box 15793, 1001 NG AmsterdamThe Netherlands
less
InterestsView All (8)
Uploads
"Challenging, theoretically rich yet anchored in detailed empirical analysis, Loet Leydesdorff's exploration of the dynamics of the knowledge-economy is a major contribution to the field. Drawing on his expertise in science and technology studies, systems theory, and his internationally respected work on 'the triple helix of university-industry-government relations', the book provides a radically new modelling and simulation of knowledge systems, capturing the articulation of structure, communication, and agency therein. This work will be of immense interest to both theorists of the knowledge-economy and practitioners in science policy."
Andrew Webster
Science & Technology Studies, University of York, UK
"This book is a ground-breaking collection of theory and techniques to help understand the internal dynamics of the modern knowledge-based economy, including issues such as stability, anticipation, and interactions amongst components. The combination of theory, measurement, and modelling gives the necessary power with which to address the complexity of modern networked social systems. Each on its own would partly illuminate an innovation system, but the combination sheds a far brighter light."
Mike Thelwall
Information Science, University of Wolverhampton, UK
"The sociologist Niklas Luhmann is considered one of the few social scientists possibly able to explain a decisive event once it has happened. In this book, Loet Leydesdorff answers the challenge to take Luhmann's analysis one step further by introducing anticipation into the theory. This book provides a fascinating exploration of the use of recursion and incursion to model social processes."
Dirk Baecker
Sociology, Universitat Witten/Herdecke, Germany
First, the various dimensions of the empirical study of the sciences are clarified in a methodological analysis of theoretical traditions, including the sociology of scientific knowledge and neo-conventionalism in the philosophy of science. Second, the author argues why the mathematical theory of communication enables us to address crucial problems in science and technology studies, both on the qualitative side (e.g., the significance of a reconstruction) and on the quantitative side (e.g., the prediction of indicators).
A comprehensive set of probabilistic entropy measures for studying complex developments in networks is elaborated. In the third part of the study, applications to S&T policy questions (e.g., the emergence of a European R&D system), to problems of (Bayesian) knowledge representations, and to the study of the sciences in terms of 'self-organizing' paradigms of scientific communication are provided. A discussion of directions for further research concludes the study.
About The Author
Loet Leydesdorff (Ph.D. sociology, M.A. philosophy, and M.Sc. biochemistry) is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Amsterdam. He has published extensively in the philosophy of science, social network analysis, scientometrics, and the sociology of innovation.
This study can also be considered as the methodological complement to A Sociological Theory of Communications: The Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society (Universal Publishers, 2000). The two books provide theory and methods for the investigation of the knowledge base in socio-cognitive processes of communication and codification.
Also by Loet Leydesdorff: The Knowledge-Based Economy: Modeled, Measured, Simulated (Universal Publishers, 2006);
This sociological theory of communication is founded in a tradition that includes Giddens' (1979) structuration theory, Habermas' (1981) theory of communicative action, and Luhmann's (1984) proposal to consider social systems as self-organizing. The study also elaborates on Shannon's (1948) mathematical theory of communication for the formalization and operationalization of the non-linear dynamics.
The development of scientific communications can be studied using citation analysis. The exchange media at the interfaces of knowledge production provide us with the evolutionary model of a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations. The construction of the European Information Society can then be analyzed in terms of interacting networks of communication. The issues of sustainable development and the expectation of social change are discussed in relation to the possibility of a general theory of communication.
REVIEW
In this book, LoetLeydesdorff sets out to answer the question, "Can society be considered as a self-organizing (autopoietic) system. In the process, Leydesdorff, develops a general sociological theory of communication, as well as a special theory of scientific communication designed to analyze complex systems such as the Euroean Information Society. (from review in JASIST 53[1], 2002, 62-63)
"Challenging, theoretically rich yet anchored in detailed empirical analysis, Loet Leydesdorff's exploration of the dynamics of the knowledge-economy is a major contribution to the field. Drawing on his expertise in science and technology studies, systems theory, and his internationally respected work on 'the triple helix of university-industry-government relations', the book provides a radically new modelling and simulation of knowledge systems, capturing the articulation of structure, communication, and agency therein. This work will be of immense interest to both theorists of the knowledge-economy and practitioners in science policy."
Andrew Webster
Science & Technology Studies, University of York, UK
"This book is a ground-breaking collection of theory and techniques to help understand the internal dynamics of the modern knowledge-based economy, including issues such as stability, anticipation, and interactions amongst components. The combination of theory, measurement, and modelling gives the necessary power with which to address the complexity of modern networked social systems. Each on its own would partly illuminate an innovation system, but the combination sheds a far brighter light."
Mike Thelwall
Information Science, University of Wolverhampton, UK
"The sociologist Niklas Luhmann is considered one of the few social scientists possibly able to explain a decisive event once it has happened. In this book, Loet Leydesdorff answers the challenge to take Luhmann's analysis one step further by introducing anticipation into the theory. This book provides a fascinating exploration of the use of recursion and incursion to model social processes."
Dirk Baecker
Sociology, Universitat Witten/Herdecke, Germany
First, the various dimensions of the empirical study of the sciences are clarified in a methodological analysis of theoretical traditions, including the sociology of scientific knowledge and neo-conventionalism in the philosophy of science. Second, the author argues why the mathematical theory of communication enables us to address crucial problems in science and technology studies, both on the qualitative side (e.g., the significance of a reconstruction) and on the quantitative side (e.g., the prediction of indicators).
A comprehensive set of probabilistic entropy measures for studying complex developments in networks is elaborated. In the third part of the study, applications to S&T policy questions (e.g., the emergence of a European R&D system), to problems of (Bayesian) knowledge representations, and to the study of the sciences in terms of 'self-organizing' paradigms of scientific communication are provided. A discussion of directions for further research concludes the study.
About The Author
Loet Leydesdorff (Ph.D. sociology, M.A. philosophy, and M.Sc. biochemistry) is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Amsterdam. He has published extensively in the philosophy of science, social network analysis, scientometrics, and the sociology of innovation.
This study can also be considered as the methodological complement to A Sociological Theory of Communications: The Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society (Universal Publishers, 2000). The two books provide theory and methods for the investigation of the knowledge base in socio-cognitive processes of communication and codification.
Also by Loet Leydesdorff: The Knowledge-Based Economy: Modeled, Measured, Simulated (Universal Publishers, 2006);
This sociological theory of communication is founded in a tradition that includes Giddens' (1979) structuration theory, Habermas' (1981) theory of communicative action, and Luhmann's (1984) proposal to consider social systems as self-organizing. The study also elaborates on Shannon's (1948) mathematical theory of communication for the formalization and operationalization of the non-linear dynamics.
The development of scientific communications can be studied using citation analysis. The exchange media at the interfaces of knowledge production provide us with the evolutionary model of a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations. The construction of the European Information Society can then be analyzed in terms of interacting networks of communication. The issues of sustainable development and the expectation of social change are discussed in relation to the possibility of a general theory of communication.
REVIEW
In this book, LoetLeydesdorff sets out to answer the question, "Can society be considered as a self-organizing (autopoietic) system. In the process, Leydesdorff, develops a general sociological theory of communication, as well as a special theory of scientific communication designed to analyze complex systems such as the Euroean Information Society. (from review in JASIST 53[1], 2002, 62-63)
Despite an increase in references to ‘ontology’ in STS since 1989, we show
that there has not so much been an ontological turn as multiple discussions
deploying the language of ontology, consisting of many small movements
that have changed the landscape within STS and beyond. These
movements do not point to a shared STS-wide understanding of ontology,
although it can be seen that they do open up STS to neighbouring
disciplines. Three main thematic complexes are identified in this literature:
constructivism and realism; instruments and classification; and the social
sciences and the humanities. The introduction of ontology into the longrunning
constructivism-realism debate can be considered as an
acknowledgement on both sides that objects are real (i.e. pre-existing the
situation) and constructed at the same time. The second thematic complex
focuses on the role of instruments and classification in establishing not only
relations of heterogeneity but also of stability. The third thematic complex
broadens the debate and actively seeks to promote an STS-driven
ontological turn for research concerned with the humanities and the social
sciences more generally. This study is based on both quantitative and
qualitative interpretations of the literature"