Bacteriological and physiological research styles in the early controversy on the nature of the bacteriophage phenomenon.

Historians and sociologists of science take a lively interest in research styles as an analytical concept.' Using the concept of style is a way of emphasizing the role of continuity and tradition in the development of science. To quote Thomas Kuhn, "only investigations firmly rooted in the contemporary scientific tradition are likely to break that tradition and give rise to a new one."2 On the other hand, the concept of research style is used to argue that there are different and often competing approaches within disciplines, frequently based in research groups or research schools.3 The concept ofstyle, now in the form of"thought style", also came into vogue by the translation and republication of Ludwik Fleck's Entstehung und Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache in which he argued that scientists' observations and their definitions of "facts" are shaped by the thought styles or assumptions shared by "thought collectives". Concepts are supposed to derive their meaning from the existence of a stylistic bond between them, so the thought style determines the formulation of every concept.4