title: Can gerontology be a science?
abstract: During the last half-century, research on aging has become more scientific in its self-representations. Paradoxically, however, it is not at all self-evident that gerontology can flourish as a comprehensive science. Highlighting major trends in the internal and external history of the field's evolution reveals why this is so. And yet, retrospective analysis also provides a vehicle for creating a science of gerontology driven by cumulative, synthetic theory-building.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Andrew Achenbaum