Experimental implementation as a linking mechanism in the process of innovation

The involvement of scientists in the networks of innovation links research activities to practical (technical, economic), political and moral considerations. This does not make the functional differences that exist between doing research and making practical decision disappear, but both sides are affected by the interaction. Two case studies are presented that illustrate how science contributes not only knowledge, but also its mode of operation-experimenting-to processes of social and technological innovation, while the problems emerging in the process of experimental implementation pose new cognitive challenges for research. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.