Why believe in the findings of science? John Ziman argues that scientific knowledge is not uniformly reliable, but rather like a map representing a country we cannot visit. He shows how science has many elements, including alongside its experiments and formulae the language and logic, patterns and preconceptions, facts and fantasies used to illustrate and express its findings. These elements are variously combined by scientists in their explanations of the material world as it lies outside our everyday experience. John Ziman's book offers at once a valuably clear account and a radically challenging investigation of the credibility of scientific knowledge, searching widely across a range of disciplines for evidence about the perceptions, paradigms and analogies on which all our understanding depends.
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'He is one of the cleverest and most urbane liberal scientists writing about science today.' The Guardian
Book Description
A challenging investigation of the reliability of scientific knowledge results in a revealing exploration of worldly perception--and surprising connections between scientific methods and everyday understanding.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
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Excellent!,
This review is from: Reliable Knowledge: An Exploration of the Grounds for Belief in Science (Canto original series) (Paperback)
Crisp, concise and to the point, clearly and ably written, and extremely informative. I wish I'd discovered it much earlier. If you want to understand when, why and how science works best, the discussion in this remarkably timeless book is the place to start.
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This work arises from two sources: a challenge and a theory. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
noetic domain, scientific archives, everyday realism, sensorimotor action, mathematical machine, material domain, sensorimotor coordination, consensual knowledge, mental domain, map metaphor Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Kegan Paul, Cambridge University Press, University of Chicago Press, London Routledge, Physics Today, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Earth Sciences, The Working Brain, Leland Allen, Mary Hesse, Modes of Thought, Patterns of Discovery, Reconstructing Social Psychology, The Interpretation of Cultures, The Structure of Science, Trafalgar Square New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
This work arises from two sources: a challenge and a theory. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
noetic domain, scientific archives, everyday realism, sensorimotor action, mathematical machine, material domain, sensorimotor coordination, consensual knowledge, mental domain, map metaphor Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Kegan Paul, Cambridge University Press, University of Chicago Press, London Routledge, Physics Today, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Earth Sciences, The Working Brain, Leland Allen, Mary Hesse, Modes of Thought, Patterns of Discovery, Reconstructing Social Psychology, The Interpretation of Cultures, The Structure of Science, Trafalgar Square New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 46
books:
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31
books
cite this book:
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- Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy by Michael Polanyi on 9 pages
- The Working Brain: An Introduction To Neuropsychology by Aleksandr R. Luria on 4 pages
- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn on 4 pages
- The Interpretation Of Cultures (Basic Books Classics) by Clifford Geertz on page 179, page 180, and page 182
- Legitimation of Belief by Ernest Gellner on page 134, and page 136
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- The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past by John Lewis Gaddis on page 1, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Judging Science: Scientific Knowledge and the Federal Courts by Kenneth R. Foster on page 84, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Truth of Science: Physical Theories and Reality by Roger G. Newton in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Interpreting Nature: Cultural Constructions of the Environment by I. G. Simmons in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Visualizing Research: A Guide To The Research Process In Art And Design by Carole Gray on page 121, and page 128
See all 31 books citing this book
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