Are the phenomena of physics discovered or rather constructed? If physical phenomena are to be
understood as constructions then physics is nothing more than useful fiction lacking
relevance for the characterisation of such a thing as «real» nature. This book puts forward two
theses: First that astroparticle physics is a very appropriate field for examining this issue
and second that scientific research would unfold differently depending on whether such
research follows a realistic or a constructivist dynamics. In addition to the presentation of
the key elements of astroparticle physics and the summary of evidence for the evaluation of the
realistic and social constructivist positions at the present state of this discipline this
book provides some specific examples of research developments that will evolve in different
ways in the near future depending on whether astroparticle physicists pursue their research in
the sense of realism or in the sense of social constructivism.
