Explaining Structural Constraints on Lay Participation in Field Science

Abstract

Using an example from the author's work on field science in the American West in the early twentieth century, this essay considers how structural constraints on the interactions between scientists and lay people in the field might be explained. Not only is there unusually abundant source evidence about a local ranching family living near a paleontological field site, but the Cooks were especially assertive in attempting to exert influence. This example functions as a thickly documented limiting case for testing the constraints on lay participation in field practice during this period.