Robert K. Merton was the doyen of the sociology of science in
America. His work lies squarely within the functionalist tradition in
the human sciences, a framework which was cenral to
liberal,consensual social science in mid-twentieth century and which
was subjected to searching critiques in the 1960s and thereafter.
Some of these critiques are summarised in a short essay of mine,
'Mystification in the Scientific Foundations of Sociology'
http://human-nature.com/rmyoung/papers/paper88.html

and the broader tradition of scientism of which it is a part is examined in
'The Naturalization of Value Systems in the Human Sciences'
http://human-nature.com/rmyoung/papers/paper45.html

Two excellent books in this debate are
DEMERATH, N. J. M. and PETERSON, R. A. (eds.) (1967) _System, Change
and Conflict: A Reader on Contemporary Sociological Theory and the
Debate over Functionalism_, London, Collier Macmillan.
GOULDNER, A. W. (1971) _The Coming Crisis in Western Sociology_,
London, Heinemann Educational Books.
The roots of this tradition in American thought were incisively
examined in a lovely paper by Barbara Heyl, about 'The Harvard
"Pareto Circle"', in which Merton was an acolyte.
http://human-nature.com/science-as-culture/circle.html

The book of his which I found most congenial is about scientific
traditions, _On the Shoulders of Giants_.

Here is the NY Times obituary:
>
>New York Times
>February 24 2003
>
>Robert K. Merton, Versatile Sociologist and Father of the Focus Group, Dies
>at 92
>By MICHAEL T. KAUFMAN
>
>Robert K. Merton, one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th
>century, whose coinage of terms like "self-fulfilling prophecy" and "role
>models" filtered from his academic pursuits into everyday language, died
>yesterday. He was 92 and lived in Manhattan.
>
>Mr. Merton gained his pioneering reputation as a sociologist of science,
>exploring how scientists behave and what it is that motivates, rewards, and
>intimidates them. By laying out his "ethos of science" in 1942, he replaced
>the entrenched stereotypical views that had long held scientists to be
>eccentric geniuses largely unbound by rules or norms. It was this body of
>work that contributed to Mr. Merton's becoming the first sociologist to win
>a National Medal of Science in 1994.
>
>But his explorations over 70-odd years extended across an extraordinary
>range of interests that included the workings of the mass media, the anatomy
>of racism, the social perspectives of "insiders" vs. "outsiders," history,
>literature and etymology. Though carried out with the detachment he admired
>in Emile Durkheim, the French architect of modern sociology, Mr. Merton's
>inquiries often bore important consequences in real life as well as in
>academics.
>
>His studies on an integrated community helped shape Kenneth Clark's historic
>brief in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court case that led to the
>desegregation of public schools. His adoption of the focused interview to
>elicit the responses of groups to texts, radio programs and films led to the
>"focus groups" that politicians, their handlers, marketers and hucksters now
>find indispensable. Long after he had helped devise the methodology, Mr.
>Merton deplored its abuse and misuse but added, "I wish I'd get a royalty on
>it."
>
>Full text
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/24/obituaries/24MERT.html
>
>
>

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