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Stuart Firestein

Ignorance: How It Drives Science 1st Edition

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Knowledge is a big subject, says Stuart Firestein, but ignorance is a bigger one. And it is ignorance--not knowledge--that is the true engine of science.

Most of us have a false impression of science as a surefire, deliberate, step-by-step method for finding things out and getting things done. In fact, says Firestein, more often than not, science is like looking for a black cat in a dark room, and there may not be a cat in the room. The process is more hit-or-miss than you might imagine, with much stumbling and groping after phantoms. But it is exactly this "not knowing," this puzzling over thorny questions or inexplicable data, that gets researchers into the lab early and keeps them there late, the thing that propels them, the very driving force of science. Firestein shows how scientists use ignorance to program their work, to identify what should be done, what the next steps are, and where they should concentrate their energies. And he includes a catalog of how scientists use ignorance, consciously or unconsciously--a remarkable range of approaches that includes looking for connections to other research, revisiting apparently
settled questions, using small questions to get at big ones, and tackling a problem simply out of curiosity. The book concludes with four case histories--in cognitive psychology, theoretical physics, astronomy, and neuroscience--that provide a feel for the nuts and bolts of ignorance, the day-to-day battle that goes on in scientific laboratories and in scientific minds with questions that range from the quotidian to the profound.

Turning the conventional idea about science on its head, Ignorance opens a new window on the true nature of research. It is a must-read for anyone curious about science.

ISBN-10

0199828075
ISBN-13

978-0199828074
Edition

1st
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

April 23, 2012
Language

English
Dimensions

7.1 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
Print length

195 pages
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Editorial Reviews

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"Firestein, a popular professor of neurobiology at Columbia...describes clearly how scientists continually uncover new facts that confront them with the extent of their ignorance, and how they successfully grapple with uncertainty in their daily research work. With ample examples from neuroscience he describes the limits of what we currently know, what the uncertainties are, and why they arise especially in the study of complex systems like the brain, the olfactory system, human vision, climate change, and earthquakes." --The New York Review of Books

"[A] sparkling and innovative look at ignorance . . . We should remember that when a sphere becomes bigger, the surface area grows. Thus, as the sphere of scientific knowledge increases, so does the surface area of the unknown. Firestein's book reminds us that it is at this interface that we can claim true and objective progress."
--MIchael Shermer for Nature

"Firestein challenges our culture's pat view of science as a simple process of placing one brick of knowledge on top of another in a simple progression toward greater knowledge."
--Publishers Weekly

"[I]t's the latter - the unanswered questions - that makes science, and life, interesting. That's the eloquently argued case at the heart of Ignorance: How It Drives Science, in which Stuart Firestein sets out to debunk the popular idea that knowledge follows ignorance, demonstrating instead that it's the other way around and, in the process, laying out a powerful manifesto for getting the public engaged with science - a public to whom, as Neil deGrasse Tyson recently reminded Senate, the government is accountable in making the very decisions that shape the course of science."
--BrainPickings.org

"Ignorance, it turns out, is really quite profound, and this is a good introduction to the subject." --Library Journal

"Stuart Firestein's Ignorance offers a pithier and more nuanced look at the fallibility of science." --Slate

Chosen by New Scientist's Culture Lab as one of the Ten Books to look out for in 2012

"This is a fascinating little book . . . it's Ignorance: How It Drives Science by Stuart Firestein, and it will blow your mind as we used to say back in the '60s..."
--Ira Flatow, NPR's Science Friday

"An excellent read, Ignorance would be a fine companion text for potential scientists at the beginning of their studies. The book reminds us that although we are repeatedly given the impression our world contains an endless amount of knowledge, most of that is inaccessible to us, and it is the absence of knowledge that should concern us. Firestein's short account may even make you embrace your ignorance, wearing it like a badge of
honor." -- Science

"[A] short, highly entertaining book aimed at nonscientists and students who want to be scientists. The book comes at an important time. Today's most vociferous scientific controversies turn on different interpretations of facts - about climate change, about contraception, about evolution. When politics are injected, the shouting grows louder, the thinking muddier. Uncertainty is a dirty word. Dr. Firestein, by contrast, celebrates a tolerance for uncertainty, the pleasures of scientific mystery and the cultivation of doubt. If more people embraced the seductive appeal of uncertainty, he says, it might take some acrimony out of our public debates." --Sandra Blakeslee, New York Times

"[I]ntelligent and entertaining." --Wall Street Journal

"Firestein's ideas about how science works will strike most scientists as obvious. But his examples are interesting enough to keep those already committed to his thesis turning the pages, and for the non-scientist he offers a valuable counterbalance to know-it-all scientists and the portrayal of science by the media." --Books & Culture

"This is a lovely little book, which is truly about what drives science; and it's not about physics, or chemistry, or engineering, but real biology." --The Biologist

About the Author

Stuart Firestein is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, where his highly popular course on ignorance invites working scientists to come talk to students each week about what they don't know. Dedicated to promoting science to a public audience, he serves as an advisor for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's program for the Public Understanding of Science and was awarded the 2011 Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award for excellence in scholarship and teaching. Also, he was recently named an AAAS Fellow.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (April 23, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 195 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199828075
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199828074
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #703,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,999 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)
- #4,352 in Science & Mathematics
- #18,111 in Philosophy (Books)

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Francis O Walker

Life, liberty and the pursuit...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 21, 2023

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This book finds a convincing argument from science that confirms bliss is ignorance—in that its pursuit often leads to happiness. In doing so It provides an insightful description of how science really works. Like explorers of yore, scientists study the map of the known, not to master its details, but rather to define its limits and to set a course to its edges to see what lies beyond. The process, more intuitive than logical, defies traditional methodology and like any creative act, reflects the remarkable ability of the human mind to move it from ignorance toward understanding. Five case studies from real scientists help further illustrate the author’s premise. Concisely written and seasoned with wit, this book is highly recommended for those interested in discovery and applied science, and for those in any endeavor convinced that they have all the answers. Outstanding!

Helpful

Paul Vjecsner

More ignorance than presumed

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 27, 2012

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Although the author recognizes (p.22) that "apparent knowledge...stands in the way of ignorance", as in the finding that the "luminiferous ether of late 19th-century physics" didn't exist, he steadfastly adheres to some present-day views as unquestionable knowledge, despite his inadequate comprehension of them.

In discussing Goedel's incompleteness theorems, for example, he says that to prove for a logical system that its "fundamental rules...will never result in [inconsistencies]...means that the system is complete" (p.41). This is not the meaning of a system's completeness; the completeness means that every true statement in the system is provable. The author then says, "Goedel showed...that something that could be shown to be true using the system could not in fact be proved to be so". Observe that "shown" here can easily be held synonymous with "proved", and we have a contradiction. This is in fact the trouble with the theorem, the contradiction resulting by simple logical rules, however twisted to deny it. Author Firestein makes the usual connection with ancient paradoxes we may now examine.

He again is careless about accuracy. He repeatedly speaks of "Cretin's" paradox, though the word is "Cretan's", referring to Epimenides, who is credited with the contended paradox. It can be phrased as

1) "All Cretans are liars",

uttered by the Cretan. Author Firestein's brief explanation is: "So who [sic] are you to believe?" (p.42). The precise understanding is that if the Cretan's statement is true then it is also false, since it makes that Cretan truthful. However, the statement can be false without contradiction if any Cretan is truthful, making it less than a paradox, which is understood to always be both true and false. Thus Dr. Firestein is wrong saying that 1) is "sometimes known as the Liar's paradox", which says

2) "This statement is false".

As easily seen by its content, if it is true, it is false, and if false, true. The paradox has confounded thinkers to this day, and one understanding offered was that the truth or falsity of a statement must be couched in a different language, called metalanguage. This became the basis for Goedel's theorem above, where the truth of a statement was held proved in a different language than its alleged unprovability.

But the solution of 2) does not depend on language, which can include any word of any meaning at will. The solution is much simpler. Any statement is implicitly meant to be true; it stands if true, but is denied if false. Hence 2) is logically inadmissible, contradicting its implicit assertion of its truth. I deal with paradoxes beside else in my own book, presently only wishing to elucidate the erroneousness of Goedel's reasoning.

Another example of unquestioning acceptance by Dr. Firestein of today's scientific contentions concerns Darwinian evolution, which on top of this reaches into his own field. He speaks of (p.158) "the misleading arguments made against evolution with its random mutations and post hoc selection". He continues: "Once the function of something is known, it always appears to have been designed. This, of course, was Darwin's great intellectual leap--to see that such utilitarian structures as eyes were not designed for their purpose..." To say "their purpose" is interesting, because "purpose" may be held synonymous with "design". And to say that once a function is known, "it always appears to have been designed" is a somewhat cavalier dismissal of the issue. The issue does not arise so often. Man-made artifacts with function are designed, and what remains functional appears to be organisms. So the question is profound--are organisms likewise designed?

Was "evolution with its random mutations and post hoc selection" indeed "Darwin's great intellectual leap", with "misleading arguments made against" it? Why "misleading"? They are justified challenges. And there is an argument nullifying the great intellectual leap. That leap alleges lack of purpose, of goal-direction, in organisms. Yet, goal-direction in organisms is a well-known phenomenon, in the organism's activities directed toward self-preservation, which distinguishes life itself. This goal of life leads to whatever adaptations are necessary to preserve it, refuting the accidental adaptations of Darwinian theory.

11 people found this helpful

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Craig MACKINNON

The driver of science

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 13, 2017

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There is an equivalency in the vernacular between ignorance and stupidity. In a book titled "Ignorance", you can be sure that author Stuart Firestein clearly defines and then extols the virtues of ignorance. In other words, the beginning of wisdom is understanding the limits of your knowledge. This is, unfortunately, uncomfortable to the vast majority of people, even those who should know better - including many teachers, politicians, scientists, etc. Therefore, they limit their search for knowledge to avoid feeling ;stupid".

Firestein argues that understanding and using ignorance is the key to understanding scientific progress. He makes an impassioned and entirely convincing case in this book, which arose out of a Philosophy of Science course he developed at Columbia University. Perhaps writing this origin story will not help the cause of the book - not everyone has had such an engaging philosophy professor - but rest assured that the writing is crisp and easy to read, and the length of the book (a mere 200 pages) is perfect for saying what needs to be said, and nothing more. It sounds strange to call such a book a "page-turner", but this book is that.

There are, of course, some quibbles (I always have at least one!). I think he too breezily dismisses the concept of scientific facts (the book was written pre-Trump, but not pre-Fox News, which makes his dismissal of the importance of facts framing the knowledge-ignorance boundary concerning). Of course, such a book is meant to be provocative, and it certainly does induce you to think about and engage with the material, as any good university professor should be doing. Perhaps the pithiest description of ignorance comes from Donald Rumsfeld, a comment he was mocked for at the time, but which is profound when considered in the light of this book: "[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know." By defining the unknown (i.e. our ignorance), we will not only learn new things, but also learn things that we didn't even know could exist. That is the promise of both basic and applied science.

9 people found this helpful

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Sergio P

Insights into the making of science

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a book about the exploratory, and adventurous side of science. Firestein takes us through the multiple paths that lead to scientific discoveries, or to dead ends. The author reveals a very human endeavour that is rarely shown as such in the science news. 'Ignorance' is an insightful and entertaining read. Firestein is our companion to the wide backstage of science, where what scientists don't know (and sometimes they don't know they don't) is what guides them through the dark oceans of the unknown.

P Mota

Fascinating perspective

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

We tend to have very simple explanations for everything there is in the world, until we start to really explain them. Then we realize how little we know. Every new discovery raises many more questions. That is science.

Ms. L. L. De Ferrari

Brilliant (reviewed by a scientist)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 10, 2012

Verified Purchase

Brilliant. Every other sentence really is an aphorism. And a good one.
Rarely has such a small book weighted so much in my mind. Made me think of zen, for no particular reason but the sparse beauty of each page.
After years of PhD and research, a real tonic. Now back to find some more ignorance...

6 people found this helpful

Daniel Weiand

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 11, 2017

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Really excellent

Amazon Customer

This book was recommended to my daughter in university (by her Prof) that ...

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 15, 2016

Verified Purchase

This book was recommended to my daughter in university (by her Prof) that she get it to help with her science related classes. She tells me she is thankful we got it.

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