In modern conditions the study of the problems of the essence of science, her humanistic, worldview, methodological foundations, ways of development and functioning in various social systems, the depth and nature of the impact on public life and the destiny of mankind has gained immense relevance, a great deal of theoretical and, especially, practical significance. This is due to, first of all, the rapid progress of scientific and technological revolution, what led to the transformation of science in direct productive force, the growth of its pervasive influence on social life, globalization and the contradictions of her social impact.

 Never before has humanity experienced such a responsible and important for his future as a period on the threshold of the third Millennium. A historical milestone is characterized by unprecedented rise of human genius, the penetration of science in micro- and the macrocosm, in the deep foundations of the life of nature and man. As science and technology become more and more tangible in the Foundation of modern civilization, the progress of science and the future of humanity are inextricably combined in the public consciousness. However, science is perceived is not uniquely, many of her discoveries and technical news excite the imagination, confused, and sometimes simply afraid of modern man, especially when it comes to the future. And this is not surprising. Modern scientific and technological development has brought to life a number of not only positive, but also negative phenomena, which has assumed global proportions., That's why, approaching the third Millennium, humanity with a lot of stress reflects on ethical, humanistic assessment of the role and purpose of science in public life. The question, is science a force, that serves the interests and needs of the person, regardless of the social conditions of its existence, or is it a demon, spin out of human control and able to destroy it, became the subject of General discussion.

So, the urgent need to think about a new kind of science, what is formed in conditions of scientific-technical revolution, led to the formation and even a kind of boom naukovedenie as a comprehensive means of self-discovery science. In terms naukovedenie’merge logic, sociological, economic, legal and many other studies of modern science. Accumulated and accumulated important empirical information about the specific processes and trends of development of scientific knowledge and scientific activity. More and more place in modern naukovedenie sociological perspective.

Naukovedenie - rather, the General name of different trends, types of science research, among them are six main. First, logical-gnoseological science research, the subject of which is scientific knowledge, its structure, the logic and dialectics of its development. Secondly, historical and scientific research, that focus on the specific historical development of the science in whole and its separate manifestations. Thirdly, sociological studies of science. Fourthly, the study of economic problems of development of science. On-n’s fifth, a study of the psychology of scientific creativity. I, Sixthly, science-study metric as a method for quantitative interpretation of processes in science.

So, science - complex multidimensional social phenomenon and the various branches of knowledge, in different concrete historical conditions, study it from different angles. The feature of the sociology of science and, she, being distracted from the content of scientific knowledge, its structure and logic development, consider science as a social institution, as a very specific form and field of activities.

Academic activities are carried out in a specific system of relations, in certain forms of organization and management, oriented (ideally) to ensure the continuous process of growth of knowledge and its use in practice. In the course of scientific activity is the interaction of people, responsible for generating knowledge, moreover, the types of interaction depend on the specific socio-cultural conditions. The subject of sociology of science is the functioning of science as a social institution, in terms of a particular society, as a specific system of norms and values, in other words, sociology of science investigates the social aspects of the production of scientific knowledge, the system of social relations, regarding the movement of new knowledge from its emergence to implementation in practice, the types of conduct for scientists in different social systems, their values and preferences, as well as specific forms of interaction between science and society, science and other social phenomena.

Sociology of science as an independent branch of sociology and naukovedenie originated in the early twentieth century in the West and in the first phase developed within the sociology of knowledge, which, along with the study of religion and philosophy was analyzed the relationship’responsibilities knowledge and social systems. The merit of establishing the sociology of science max Weber belongs to, Karl Mannheim, Max Chelaru, Imre Lakatos, Thomas Kuhn and many others. A very important role in the formation of sociology of science was played by the works of John Bernal, who is considered the founder of Marxist trends in sociology of science of the twentieth century. And they’pits the American sociologist Robert Merton attributed the formation of sociology of science as an independent discipline. A set of concepts and methods, established in the works of Robert Merton and his students formed the so-called paradigm of mertonensis, what prevailed in the sociology of science until the 70-ies. It was replaced by a cognitive sociology of science, that’brings together different research programs. Their common feature is a desire to explain not only the norms of science as a social institution and forms of conduct for scientists, following the rules, adopted by the scientific community (what is characteristic of paradigm mertonensis), but the content of scientific knowledge in all its forms. However, you can't talk about the methodological unity of modern Western sociology of science. In Soviet sociology the study of science as a social institution began to gain popularity in the 50's and, especially, in 70-80-ies. The development of sociology of science continues to take place in Ukraine in modern conditions.