The author explores the implications of describing scientific inquiry as quilting. She argues that most metaphors describing science are distinctly masculine in tone, such as science as exploring, hunting, or penetrating the unknown. The author contends that these metaphors have had a powerful effect on how science is done and that a feminist view of science brings with it the need for new metaphors with less aggressive and alienating connotations. The author describes the connotations of one such metaphor, that of scientific inquiry as quilting, and presents what she sees as the consequences of such a metaphorical shift. Drawing on her experiences as a participant-observer of both scientific research and quilting, the author demonstrates the extensive similarities that exist between both the processes and products of each endeavor.
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