Instrumental Matrix: Anatomy of the Struggle of Scanning Probe Microscopy in the Nano-Bio Field (original) (raw)
2020
Developing a new research instrument for scientific discovery requires evidence of its validity amidst the web of existing instruments. This study explores the case of developing atomic force microscopy (AFM) for biological use. Despite the early expectation of a major breakthrough in the life sciences, its development has encountered multiple difficulties in terms of proving its novelty. To understand the obstacles, this paper proposes the framework of the "instrumental matrix," which focuses on the interaction of multiple instruments in terms of both collaboration and competition. Methodological efforts for the real-time observation of this process of development in laboratories using two different strategies, namely object-centered and instrument-centered, are compared and examined in terms of defining the research object, the structure of rival instruments, and commitment from the industry involved. The reason each strategy to make AFM dominate rival instruments has failed can be attributed to different values attached to "seeing the surface" in the different epistemic cultures of physics and biology. This eventually led to the underdevelopment of AFM's capacity other than imaging amidst the competition.
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