Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution 1st Touchstone Ed Edition

by John Brockman (Author)

8 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0684823447

ISBN-10: 9780684823447

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Thirty-five years ago, C. P. Snow, in a now famous essay, wrote about the polarization of the "two cultures" -- literary intellectuals on the one hand, and scientists on the other. Although he hoped for the emergence of a "third culture" that would bridge the gap, it is only recently that science has changed the intellectual landscape.
Brockman's thesis that science is emerging as the intellectual center of our society is brought to life vividly in The Third Culture, which weaves together the voices of some of today's most influential scientific figures, including:
Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins on the implications of evolution Steven Pinker, Marvin Minsky, Daniel C. Dennett, and Roger Penrose on how the mind works
Murray Gell-Mann and Stuart Kauffman on the new sciences of complexity
The Third Culture is an honest picture of science in action. It is at once stimulating, challenging, and riveting.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this treatise on the central role of science, John Brockman contends that science is becoming the predominant culture and scientists are taking the place of traditional intellectuals in answering the important questions facing humankind. Structured in interview format, The Third Culture consists of 23 noted scientists discussing their theories, the nature of scientific inquiry, and their common desire to be recognized as today's intellectual leaders.

Review

Robert Matthews New Scientist The most important book on how science is done since The Double Helix.

Phil Leggiere Wired John Brockman is the Michael Ovitz of the new intellectual elite.

Stewart Brand A rousing read, full of bloodthirsty intellectual combat....What a rich and savory brew it is -- biologists, physicists, philosophers, cognitive scientists, computer scientists -- you hear their voices, their spoken voices, in the terms with which they talk to (and about) each other.

Jill Sapinsley Mooney San Francisco Chronicle Fascinating...reading The Third Culture is...like playing tennis with someone who's better than you are. It will really make you stretch those mental muscles.

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Product details

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster; 1st Touchstone Ed edition (May 7, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780684823447
ISBN-13: 978-0684823447
ASIN: 0684823446
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 8 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,732,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #42150 in Science & Mathematics
- #27850 in Mathematics (Books)

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Michael S. Ridenour

Five Stars

August 7, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Good delivery, good book.

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Mario Maffei

Five Stars

November 27, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Amazing reading! Extremely interesting and modern. Perfect conditions.

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George Broad

Helps you know yourself

March 13, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very stimulating. Lots to think about.

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Alex Burns (alex.burns@disinfo.net)

Fine Survey of Latest Scientific Conceptual Worldviews

April 13, 1999

Format: Paperback

In this fine volume, editor and literary agent John Brockman has managed to assemble a majority of the key scientists who are developing the 'Third Culture' - a new scientific paradigm that provides public feedback loops.
The interviews are first-rate, particularly those with Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Paul Davies, Murray Gell-Mann, Roger Penrose, Lynn Margulis, and Stuart Kauffman. Unlike some of Brockman's other interview collections, Brockman is not really intrusive, enabling the scientists to speak for themselves, directly to the interested reader. Just as intriguing are the commentaries within each interview by other scientists featured within the volume, giving an insight into the lively debate that features prominently within the contemporary scientific community. Despite featuring many of the major names and minds, they don't always agree, and the interplay is exhilirating. Brockman's opening chapter on the 'Third Culture' concept steps beyond C.P. Snow's oft-quoted warnings to embrace sovereignty, freedom, and conscience.
'The Third Culture' is an excellent introductory volume to give to a non-scientist that conveys the power and longterm social impact of evolutionary flows, systemic design, spiral thinking, and holistic structures. The interviews accurately convey how the new paradigms unleashed by Memetics, Complexity, Chaos Theory, Metaphysics, Neuro-biology, Cosmology, Biological Systems, Darwinian Evolution, Artificial Intelligence et. al will affect the layperson. Knowledge of this will be crucial for survival in the postmodern environment: why live in an absolutist moralistic Newtonian universe when the 'Third Culture' is far more liberating and inviting?
The book does fail to consider certain concepts beyond those propagated by the Santa Fe Institute, such as the Pribram/Bohm/Talbot 'Holographic Mind' model, Terence McKenna's Timewave and 2012 Singularity Point, or Rupert Sheldrake's controversial 'Morphic Resonance' models. But if this is kept in mind, the book is invaluable, and for the beginner, makes science accessible.

10 people found this helpful

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Battersea B.

Some of it is ok

January 9, 2007

Format: Paperback

Love the premise. It falls apart at some points though.

I Love having the opposing viewpoints at the end of the chapter. Finally you can hear both sides of a debate without having to buy many seperate books. Also I love the short encapsulated synopsis of great thinkers like Dawkins. You get a great overview of all his work, from himself, in just a few pages.

I Love the concept of the intellectual elite being hijacked by the science illiterate.

However, not many of the chapters make sense and some of the comments at the ends of the chapters are inane.

2 people found this helpful

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chowds00.cs06@usafa.af.mil

The Third Culture - rediscovering the magic of science.

January 4, 1998

Format: Paperback

Knowledge is power. But as Brockman successfully argues, the significance of the new knowledge born by scientific revolution will never be fully realized without communication. Enter the Third Culture. These individuals have successfully bridged the gap between ignorance and enlightenment by revealing the magic and power of science to the world.
In his book, Brockman has brought together the ideas of those who, in his opinion, are best representative of the Third Culture. Lynn Margulis' ideas on symbiosis and evolutionary change give a new twist to Darwinism; the idea of exaptation as explained by Stephen Jay Gould reveals the inherent randomness of natural selection; Alan Guth's comments on the Big Bang and the fate of the universe will force anyone to become a kid again and wonder. The reader will be exposed to a vast range of scientific thought in a way which is easily understood and enjoyable. In addition to getting exposed to ideas which are dominating science today, the reader also gets a flavor for the lives of those who are truly passionate and dedicated to their work.
Scholar or layman, the reader will enjoy this anthology of thought and walk away knowing that science is really as amazing as it's cracked up to be.

15 people found this helpful

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K. Ackermann

Good Idea, Lousy Execution

February 14, 2003

Format: Paperback

This book is a sad collage of weak efforts from a self-promoting literary agent. Brockman co-opts a pithy title with a specific meaning and then misapplies it intentionally, seeking to acquire the virtues of the label without providing the substance to back it up. If you want to read a group of highly respected scientists (and an occasional philosopher) speculating about their work's broader context -- socially, historically, aesthetically, morally, spiritually -- without the rigorous requirements of a peer reviewed journal or the space required to make a nuanced argument, this may be worth your time. However, be prepared to wade through piles of mutual admiration smugness and now-you're-an-insider prose.
Brockman positions the work as an "oral history of a dynamical emergent system," which is just a jargon-laden smokescreen for a half-assed effort. If only Brockman had the spine to take the transcripts of his interviews and synthesize them for the reader into a coherent, readable whole! Instead, we have edited transcripts, a power point version of a thoughtful book, the crucial synthetic element replaced with copyediting and cleverly labeled section titles. Good idea, lousy execution. This is a book edited by Brockman, not written by him; he apparently lacked the self-confidence or talent to write in his own voice, and he does a disservice to the thinkers whose verbal speculations he edits into pabulum, digestible by the massest of the mass public (e.g., "Chris Langton is the central guru of this artificial life stuff." Ack.).
Do yourself a favor and buy the original works of the thinkers included in this volume, or read their original academic publications. Yes, it may be putting money in Brockman's pocket as their agents, but at least he will be rewarded for the work that reflects his talent - leeching off others. The cover swims with the names of Nobel Prize winners and scientific luminaries - in a halo around his own.

39 people found this helpful

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E. S. Romero

The third culture

November 10, 2006

Format: Paperback

Pretty good book, cuz it has comentaries from many important scientists. I like it very much.

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