Scientific Theories as Multi-Medial Narratives: Telling the Story of the Origin of Mass

The central claim of this paper is that narrative knowledge plays a central epistemic role in contemporary scientific practice, and most specifically in theoretical research in the exact sciences. Traditional history and philosophy of science regard physical theories primarily as mathematical constructs from which numerical predictions for phenomena can be obtained. While this view is not wrong, I believe that it is too limited and that, to appreciate the dynamics of knowledge construction in modern and contemporary science it is helpful to regard theories and concepts not as abstract, disembodied structures, but rather as multi-medial constructs comprising, beside mathematical formulas, also verbal statements, images, procedures, numbers, diagrams or computer code. These diverse elements are connected to each other as parts of an overarching narrative which in scientific practice can be implemented in different versions fitting the specific needs of the moment. In this way, despite the diversities, and even incoherences of its various elements, the theoretical construct can mantain its epistemic unity in the perception of the relevant scientific community. In my paper I will discuss some of the premises of this claim and then present a brief, non-technical example of narrative knowledge in theoretical high energy physics: the concept of spontaneous symmetry breaking.