The Golem: What Everyone Should Know about Science (Canto original series) [Paperback]

Harry M. Collins (Author), Trevor Pinch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0521477360 | ISBN-13: 978-0521477369

Science, it would seem, is neither all good nor all bad. It gives us nuclear accidents and cures for disease, agricultural self-sufficiency and death in space flight. Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch liken science to the Golem, a creature from Jewish mythology, powerful yet potentially dangerous, a gentle, helpful creature that may yet run amok at any moment. Through a series of intriguing case studies of famous and not-so-famous scientific episodes, ranging from relativity and cold fusion to memory in worms and the sex lives of lizards, the authors debunk the idea that science is the straightforward result of competent theorisation, observation and experimentation. Closer to the truth, they suggest, is the realisation that scientific certainty comes from interpreting ambiguous results within an order imposed by scientists themselves. This thought-provoking account will give general readers a new perspective on the place of science in society. '... perverse but entertaining ... the writing is deft, the stories are good and there is not a boring page.' Nature '... a must for every science student.' Science Reporter

Editorial Reviews

Review

."..a fun book with a serious message....well calculated to stimulate debate....[Readers] will be encouraged to think again about the justifiable (and unjustifiable) requirements made of scientific expertise in a society where science and technology play so important a role." Ben Marsden, Isis

Book Description

Through a series of intriguing case studies of famous and not-so-famous scientific episodes, ranging from relativity and cold fusion to memory in worms and the sex lives of lizards, the authors debunk the idea that science is the straightforward result of competent theorisation, observation and experimentation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 30, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521477360
• ISBN-13: 978-0521477369
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,279,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars aligning science studies, September 24, 1998

By 

Peter Imhof ([e-mail]) (Hamburg, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golem: What Everyone Should Know about Science (Canto original series) (Paperback)

Collins is a big shot in science studies. He introduced a rather strong research tradition in the sociology of science. There he looks at controversies in science and shows that scientific truth is being produced continously by the scientists. Basically, his point is that science is a social enterprise, done by people and that social mechanisms are inherent to scientific results and by no means just flaws in a otherwise pure science.

This little book gives a collection of various case-studies (from relativity to para-science) that have been given a treatment of this kind. The different topics make it easy and interesting to read and show that the same mechanisms work in any scientific field. I particularly like the book because it relates various case-studies that otherwise have little in common with one another.

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars pulp science, November 22, 2006

By 

anonymous (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golem: What Everyone Should Know about Science (Canto original series) (Paperback)

This book simply masquerades as a scholarly book. Yes, it was printed by Cambridge University Press, and yes, both Collins and Pinch are professors. But this book is as scientific as People Magazine. Like People magazine, this book was written for the non-scientist, who may not be able to tell good scholarship from bad. Book sales rather than scholarship appear to be the goal.

The first edition contains numerous typos; four in a single chapter. This sloppy treatment is also evident in the underlying logical flaws. And, for the most part, the book has very few footnotes, which leaves you wondering where they got their revisionist information from.

This book has a clear anti-science message. For example, Louis Pasteur, famed for his careful experiments, is wrongly painted as a manipulative bumbler. Again, without footnotes, it's hard to see how Collins and Pinch came to this conclusion, which contradicts almost every other biography of Pasteur.

The book claims to be an examination of science, but the seven subjects this book examines are hardly representative. It's as if you found seven dishonest sports figures, and then used them to prove that every sports figure is dishonest.

Creationists love this book for it's anti-science viewpoint, perhaps because the methods are the same: slant your story to fit with your pre-conceived opinion; when evidence exists to the contrary, simply say the data is wrong, or the system is biased.

The back cover says it all; the authors believe scientists are not competent, but the evidence is so thin that one believes the incompetence lies elsewhere.