In his discussion of the “Baconian project” in his recent Nature and Altering It , Allen Verhey makes the common-sensical, but often ignored, observation that mastery of nature doesn’t necessarily mean improvement: “Knowledge, in Bacon’s view, is power over nature, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Bruno Latour’s Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society is built around the insight that science is a Janus, one face “ready-made science” with its apparently closed black boxes and the other the face of “science in the making” where we . . . . Continue Reading »
David Nye points to the fact that experiences of the sublime are not confined to the grand vistas of nature, but are also found in technological and urban civilization. “A city sounds much different at the top of a skyscraper than on the streets below. The wind makes on feel more vulnerable . . . . Continue Reading »
Not long ago we learned the “scientific” reasons we like music. Today, for Valentine’s Day, we discover why we love: Men and women can now thank a dozen brain regions for their romantic fervor. Researchers have revealed the fonts of desire by comparing functional MRI studies of . . . . Continue Reading »
According to Heidegger’s essay on modern science, Newton’s theory of motion implied eight fundamental metaphysical shifts. First, because Newton’s theories applied to “every body,” the traditional distinction of heavenly and earthly bodies, and heavenly and earthy . . . . Continue Reading »
Darwin writes in Descent of Man of a “pair of land-snails . . . one of which was weakly, [placed by a Mr. Lonsdale] into a small and ill-provided garden. After a short time the strong and healthy individual disappeared, and was traced by its track of slime over a wall into an adjoining . . . . Continue Reading »
Gayle talks with Thomas Fowler about The Evolution Controversy, a book surveying the competing theories surrounding evolution. Fowler (ScD, George Washington University) is Senior Principal Engineer at the Center for Information Technology and Telecommunications at Noblis, formerly known . . . . Continue Reading »
Promising news from the stem cell front:Scientists reported Thursday they had developed a technique that can quickly create safe alternatives to human embryonic stem cells, a major advance toward developing a less controversial approach for treating for a host of medical problems.The researchers . . . . Continue Reading »
Book ReviewSome of the thinkers most opposed to theories of design are also the most preoccupied with it. Richard Dawkins wrote The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence for Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design. Stephen Hawking’s recent book was titled simply The Grand Design. The two . . . . Continue Reading »
Recently I was asked my opinion on anthropogenic global warming. In the ensuing discussion, there was criticism of my rejection of “the majority opinion of ‘experts’” as a good or valid method to base my position. Having rejected that, I was asked by what means, if not the . . . . Continue Reading »
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