Martin, Paul; Kennedy, Amanda --- "Introduction: a jurisprudence of environmental governance?" [2015] ELECD 976; in Martin, Paul; Kennedy, Amanda (eds), "Implementing Environmental Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015)

Book Title: Implementing Environmental Law

Editor(s): Martin, Paul; Kennedy, Amanda

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783479290

Section Title: Introduction: a jurisprudence of environmental governance?

Author(s): Martin, Paul; Kennedy, Amanda

Number of pages: 26

Extract:

Introduction: a jurisprudence of
environmental governance?
Paul Martin and Amanda Kennedy

The history of science shows that the evolution of scholarly investigation
follows two lines of development. The first is that innovations undergo a
transformation from relatively low efficiency to higher efficiency as the
discovery is refined and applied; implementation skill is gained through
experience; and incremental inventions that improve on the original are
brought to bear.1 This phenomenon has been observed in many fields of
knowledge. It is well illustrated by the trajectories of computer tech-
nology, psychological science, transport methods and in almost any other
area of human endeavour where disciplined and purposeful development
is applied.2
The second evolutionary pattern is that in most fields deepening of
knowledge leads to differentiation into specialisations. This is illustrated
by the physical sciences. Prior to the Scientific Enlightenment, religion,
philosophy and science were intermixed. Gradually, subjective elements
were excised from what was characterised as legitimate science. Phil-
osophy, religion and science became distinct. These investigations
evolved along different paths, as scholars and practitioners tackled
increasingly specialist challenges. In science, what are now called
chemistry and physics were originally intermixed, but gradually devel-
oped distinct epistemology and methodologies, as researchers pursued
more specialised knowledge. Within physics, for example, there are
epistemological differences between nuclear physics, planetary physics,
and many esoteric and applied pursuits of principles and methods of this
science. Over time sub-fields proliferate and become more knowledge-
intense. They interact less with the parent field from which they ...