One of the central concerns of sociologists of science has been the significance attached to received scientific collectivities such as the `discipline' and `specialty'. This has ranged from implicit acceptance of their centrality in scientific practice, to a rejection based on the identification of such collectivities as constructs of minimal significance to scientific work. This paper investigates the significance of collectivities in respect to solar energy research in Australia. On the basis of this study it is argued that the significance of received collectivities has been exaggerated; they do influence the way the researcher's world is perceived and organized, but this contribution is made within a network of multiple, overlapping and often—at the margins—vaguely defined collectivities.
