Customer Reviews

The Ethics of Science: An Introduction (Philosophical Issues in Science)

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A mere scratch on the surface of the ethical issues that a research scientist can encounter. This text seemed to be directed to freshman-level college students to introduce the idea that they will encounter instances in their work that demand they take a stand. But the content appeared to focus disproportionately on the power differential between PIs and young grad students and/or lab workers. Does the idea that it is not really ethical to present yourself as an expert outside your field, to fudge lab results, to demand authorship on a publication to which you didn't contribute, or to pad one's CV really present an "ethical dilemma" to a working scientist. I hardly think so.

Unfortunately, this text is mostly fluff when this topic could have been better served by a more focused effort. I cannot recommend this book for anything less than the most elementary introduction to scientific ethics, and it is far too expensive for that purpose. A text that captures something of my attention will sit on my shelf for a while. I donated it to a book sale after the first read.