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Paradigms Lost: Images of Man in the Mirror of Science

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Paradigms Lost: Images of Man in the Mirror of Science This incredible book presents a masterful, easy-to-grasp overview of science's answers to the great questions as we understand them today. The heart of this book consists of six chapters, each devoted to a case study of one of the major mysteries of modern science: the origin of life on our planet Earth, the real sources of human behavior and social patterns, how we acquire language, the fundamental nature of our thinking processes, the possible existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, the impact of our own scrutiny on what we observe as real. This book gives a complete and readable account of the competing positions in the important debate in progress on each one of these issues. But the grand unifying theme of these chapters is to ask what, if anything, is unique about us human beings. Each chapter is structurd in the form of a jury trial. The conventional scientific wisdom on each topic is presented by the Prosecution. The alternative views on the question are then presented by the Defense. After the summary arguments, author Casti steps in to act as a juror, casting his ballot for one side or the other and offering an explanation of how he voted. The author intends that his readers also serve on the jury by deciding for themselves on these questions. This book is really aimed at showing that it is possible to share the knowledge of the experts by means of a clear distillation of their deepest and most important arguments. Finally, the book demonstrats that the reader can participate in science's exciting quest for ever more refined knowledge of where the species Homo sapiens stands within the cosmic order as we perceive it today. While this book takes a very differnet tack to other books on this subject, I think it made it easier to understand scientific processes and in regular laymen's language & thinking processes. Some of the above was taken from the cover in lieu of any other review. This book takes us to the edge, where science becomes philosophical and philosophy is becoming science!