  A fundamental question in the field of social studies of science is how
research fields emerge, grow and decline over time and space. This study
confronts this question here by developing an inductive analysis of emerging
research fields represented by human microbiome, evolutionary robotics and
astrobiology. In particular, number of papers from starting years to 2017 of
each emerging research field is analyzed considering the subject areas (i.e.,
disciplines) of authors. Findings suggest some empirical laws of the evolution
of research fields: the first law states that the evolution of a specific
research field is driven by few scientific disciplines (3- 5) that generate
more than 80% of documents (concentration of the scientific production); the
second law states that the evolution of research fields is path-dependent of a
critical discipline (it can be a native discipline that has originated the
research field or a new discipline emerged during the social dynamics of
science); the third law states that a research field can be driven during its
evolution by a new discipline originated by a process of specialization within
science. The findings here can explain and generalize, whenever possible some
properties of the evolution of scientific fields that are due to interaction
between disciplines, convergence between basic and applied research fields and
interdisciplinary in scientific research. Overall, then, this study begins the
process of clarifying and generalizing, as far as possible, the properties of
the social construction and evolution of science to lay a foundation for the
development of sophisticated theories.
