Ignorance How It Drives Science

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  • Engels
  • Hardcover
  • 9780199828074
  • 19 juli 2012
  • 208 pagina's
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Samenvatting

Contrary to the popular view of science as a mountainous accumulation of facts and data, Stuart Firestein takes the novel perspective that ignorance is the main product and driving force of science, and that this is the best way to understand the process of scientific discovery.



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.

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Inhoud

Taal
en
Bindwijze
Hardcover
Oorspronkelijke releasedatum
19 juli 2012
Aantal pagina's
208
Illustraties
Nee

Betrokkenen

Hoofdauteur
Stuart Firestein
Hoofduitgeverij
Oxford University Press Inc

Overige kenmerken

Extra groot lettertype
Nee
Product breedte
140 mm
Product hoogte
19 mm
Product lengte
191 mm
Studieboek
Nee
Verpakking breedte
137 mm
Verpakking hoogte
186 mm
Verpakking lengte
24 mm
Verpakkingsgewicht
322 g

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EAN
9780199828074
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