Overview

Science is the great intellectual adventure, but can also be an instrument of profit, power, and privilege. Wrongly used, it might yet make the twenty-first century our last. To make sense of this, we need to let go of old ideas and assumptions. This No-Nonsense Guide to Science introduces a new way of thinking about science, moving away from ideas of perfect certainty and objectivity. We must accept uncertainty and ignorance in the field, as well as the need for citizens' participation in the policies involving science.

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9781904456469

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Reviews

'The No-Nonsense Guide to Science provides a penetrating insight into how science works.' Ziauddin Sardar, writer, broadcaster and author of Introducing Science and Why do People Hate America? 'For anyone who wants a lucid, factual, reliable guide to some of the most important issues of our time, I strongly recommend you check out the No-Nonsense Guides.' Howard Zinn, historian, playwright and social activist 'A splendid series of pocketable guides to issue politics... rigorously clear' The Guardian, London The No-Nonsense Guides are the most accessible and enjoyable means for people with hurried lives to find out how the world really works George Monbiot, journalist, campaigner and author of The Age of Consent and Captive State 'Publishers have created lists of short books that discuss the questions that your average [electoral] candidate will only ever touch if armed with a slogan and a soundbite. Together [such books] hint at a resurgence of the grand educational tradition... Closest to the hot headline issues are The No-Nonsense Guides. These target those topics that a large army of voters care about, but that politicos evade. Arguments, figures and documents combine to prove that good journalism is far too important to be left to (most) journalists.' Boyd Tonkin,The Independent, London 'For as long as I have been writing about North-South issues - and that's longer than I care to remember - the New Internationalist has been there with pungent, pithy, probing, political analysis. Now they've had the bright idea to encapsulate some of their accumulated wisdom in the No-Nonsense Guides. You can't go wrong - I personally intend to order the whole series' Susan George, Transnational Institute, and author of The Debt Trap and Another World is Possible if...

Author Information

Jerry Ravetz was formerly Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds University. He is the author of the classic study, Scientific Knowledge and its Social Problems (1971), among other publications. He helped to found the Council for Science and Society, and is a pioneer in the area of science and safety. He is now an independent scholar and self-employed consultant, working mainly on problems of the management of uncertainty in risks and environmental issues.

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