%0 Book %D 2010 %T Scientific Thought %E BrendaWilmoth Lerner %E K.Lee Lerner %X

"...how we came to know what we know about our world and ourselves. Strongly recommended.”–Library Journal

A significant survey of the "turbulent currents of intellectual thought.”--©Reed/Elsevier "

Introduction

"At the core of scientific thought is the assertion that the laws of physics and chemistry are the same throughout the universe. Although humans now understand some of the key laws that shape the Cosmos, other laws--and the multitude of manifestations that evolve from them--remain shrouded in wonderful mystery to be peeled back by future generations. Such is the power of science's self corrective mechanisms that, far above differences in culture and regardless of the language used to describe those laws or the social station of the eye viewing them (or whatever has evolved to be something akin to an eye in that part of the Universe), ultimately the laws of science will be found to be the same."...

"Yet it is equally true that throughout the course of human history, science and society have advanced in a dynamic and mutual embrace, each influencing the other. While students learn of the grandeur and power of science and the scientific method, they should also know that scientific thought was (and is) often ignored in favor of cultural tradition, sifted through theological filters, or reduced to being a handmaiden to military tactics and weaponry. Scientific thought has been suppressed and swept from the philosophical stage during various periods in human history only to--by its virtue and strength as the most robust way to know the world--rekindle itself as a candle in the intellectual darkness."...

Ignorance, mysticism, and zealotry present true and grave dangers to science and the advancement of human rights and Enlightenment ideals."  (continued) --  K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, editors. Paris. December, 2009

%I Cengage | Gale %G eng %U http://harvard.academia.edu/kleelerner