Overcoming barriers to compare in the natural sciences: The example of molecular genetics

The subproject is studying the role of practices of comparing both in gaining new knowledge and in integrating this knowledge into the system of science. It starts by observing the barriers to practices of comparisons that emerge in conceptual change or in the contrast between divergent approaches. The subproject is searching for strategies with which to overcome these conceptual and practical barriers to compare. This focuses attention on a heuristics of practices of comparing that emphasises the use of metaphors and analogies. The subproject is examining these processes within the framework of the development of molecular genetics in the twentieth century.