The Diversification of Health

Complex problems and ambitious goals are often thought to become easier by enlarging and diversifying the group of experts dealing with them. As a result, this ambition is fragmented into smaller problems adopted by single laboratories. The author ventured into nutrition science to observe and join teams of scientists to find out what happens to these problems and goals. He attended conferences and workshops and worked in their laboratories to show that scientists mobilise everything in their power to solve problems: they reconstruct elements of the problem, such as our health. Seeking health led to finding multiple coexisting healths.

Bart Penders is a postdoctoral researcher in science and technology studies.