Overview

Polymath and raconteur David Berlinski is at it again, challenging the shibboleths of contemporary science with his inimitable blend of deep learning, close reasoning, and rapier wit. In Science After Babel he reflects on everything from Newton, Einstein, and Gödel to catastrophe theory, information theory, and the morass that is modern Darwinism. The scientific enterprise is unarguably impressive, but it shows no sign of reaching the empyrean heights it seemed to promise a century ago. ""It resembles Bruegel's Tower of Babel,"" Berlinski says, ""and if it suggests anything at all, it suggests that its original plans have somehow been lost."" Science endures. Scientism, it would seem, is guttering out.

Full Product Details

9781637120262

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Many will read this book for the close, elegant reasoning, the astonishing erudition, or the mordant analysis. I confess I read it for the prose. ""Vast sections of our experience might be so very rich in information""-I quote here from the discussion of our limited ability to define complexity-""that they stay forever outside the scope of theory and remain simply what they are: unique, ineffable, insubsumable, irreducible."" See what I mean? Nobody but David Berlinski has ever employed such sweet, gorgeous prose in writing about science."" -Peter Robinson, Murdoch Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institution and former speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan ""Whether deconstructing the latest theory of everything or dishing on scientists and mathematicians he has known, whatever David Berlinski writes is delightful and profitable to read!"" -Michael Behe, Professor of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, author of Darwin's Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves ""If I were picking two books to be required reading for every college student in the United States, Science After Babel would be one. A striking and beautiful and absolutely necessary book. David Berlinski at his spectacular best."" -David Gelernter, Professor of Computer Science, Yale University ""Science After Babel is a literary triumph. In it, David Berlinski masterfully exposes the hubris of scientific pretensions with a wit that dances deftly between the lines, unveiling profound insights with a refreshing candor. This book testifies to the author's penetrating intellect, inviting readers to reconsider the limits of scientific authority and reject facile invocations of science that demand assent at the expense of compelling evidence and rigorous thought."" -William Dembski, mathematician, philosopher, and former head of the Michael Polanyi Center at Baylor University; author of multiple groundbreaking works on the theory of intelligent design, including The Design Inference (Cambridge University Press, 1998) ""Berlinski speaks wittingly as an insider to the sciences and their recent history. As a historian-philosopher of science, I recognize numerous valuable insights in this collection of arguments and memories. He captures the wonder of scientific inquiry without misplaced worship of speculative pronouncements made in its name. Berlinski is the most enjoyable antidote to scientism I know."" -Michael Keas, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science, Biola University, author of Unbelievable: 7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion ""David Berlinski is world class at combining devastating wit with even more devastating substantive criticism, and this book would be well worth its purchase price for the fine polemic essays it contains. But what makes it really special is the inclusion of hard-to-find historical and technical essays on mathematics, biology, and philosophy. In his popular writing, Berlinski has generally refrained from delving into all the gory details of his arguments, though we can sense a mastery of those details. Here the mastery is on unrestrained display, and the details can be fully enjoyed."" -Stephen McKeown, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, University of Texas at Dallas"

"""Many will read this book for the close, elegant reasoning, the astonishing erudition, or the mordant analysis. I confess I read it for the prose. ""Vast sections of our experience might be so very rich in information""-I quote here from the discussion of our limited ability to define complexity-""that they stay forever outside the scope of theory and remain simply what they are: unique, ineffable, insubsumable, irreducible."" See what I mean? Nobody but David Berlinski has ever employed such sweet, gorgeous prose in writing about science."" -Peter Robinson, Murdoch Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institution and former speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan ""Whether deconstructing the latest theory of everything or dishing on scientists and mathematicians he has known, whatever David Berlinski writes is delightful and profitable to read!"" -Michael Behe, Professor of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, author of Darwin's Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves ""If I were picking two books to be required reading for every college student in the United States, Science After Babel would be one. A striking and beautiful and absolutely necessary book. David Berlinski at his spectacular best."" -David Gelernter, Professor of Computer Science, Yale University ""Science After Babel is a literary triumph. In it, David Berlinski masterfully exposes the hubris of scientific pretensions with a wit that dances deftly between the lines, unveiling profound insights with a refreshing candor. This book testifies to the author's penetrating intellect, inviting readers to reconsider the limits of scientific authority and reject facile invocations of science that demand assent at the expense of compelling evidence and rigorous thought."" -William Dembski, mathematician, philosopher, and former head of the Michael Polanyi Center at Baylor University; author of multiple groundbreaking works on the theory of intelligent design, including The Design Inference (Cambridge University Press, 1998) ""Berlinski speaks wittingly as an insider to the sciences and their recent history. As a historian-philosopher of science, I recognize numerous valuable insights in this collection of arguments and memories. He captures the wonder of scientific inquiry without misplaced worship of speculative pronouncements made in its name. Berlinski is the most enjoyable antidote to scientism I know."" -Michael Keas, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science, Biola University, author of Unbelievable: 7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion ""Dr. Berlinski explores everything from the complicated spawning behavior of salmon and the problems with the RNA World hypothesis to various acute challenges to modern evolutionary theory, including the Cambrian explosion, molecular machines, and the failure of punctuated equilibrium. As he shows, trouble is brewing for Darwin on other fronts as well-population genetics, taxonomy, behavioral psychology, and the philosophy of biology, to name just a few. In total, Science after Babel is a lively mix of deep scientific knowledge, literary skill, and humor.... I highly recommend the book and hope it is widely read."" -Ola Hössjer, Professor of Mathematical Statistics, Stockholm University"

""Many will read this book for the close, elegant reasoning, the astonishing erudition, or the mordant analysis. I confess I read it for the prose. ""Vast sections of our experience might be so very rich in information""-I quote here from the discussion of our limited ability to define complexity-""that they stay forever outside the scope of theory and remain simply what they are: unique, ineffable, insubsumable, irreducible."" See what I mean? Nobody but David Berlinski has ever employed such sweet, gorgeous prose in writing about science."" -Peter Robinson, Murdoch Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institution and former speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan ""Whether deconstructing the latest theory of everything or dishing on scientists and mathematicians he has known, whatever David Berlinski writes is delightful and profitable to read!"" -Michael Behe, Professor of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, author of Darwin's Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves ""If I were picking two books to be required reading for every college student in the United States, Science After Babel would be one. A striking and beautiful and absolutely necessary book. David Berlinski at his spectacular best."" -David Gelernter, Professor of Computer Science, Yale University ""Science After Babel is a literary triumph. In it, David Berlinski masterfully exposes the hubris of scientific pretensions with a wit that dances deftly between the lines, unveiling profound insights with a refreshing candor. This book testifies to the author's penetrating intellect, inviting readers to reconsider the limits of scientific authority and reject facile invocations of science that demand assent at the expense of compelling evidence and rigorous thought."" -William Dembski, mathematician, philosopher, and former head of the Michael Polanyi Center at Baylor University; author of multiple groundbreaking works on the theory of intelligent design, including The Design Inference (Cambridge University Press, 1998) ""Berlinski speaks wittingly as an insider to the sciences and their recent history. As a historian-philosopher of science, I recognize numerous valuable insights in this collection of arguments and memories. He captures the wonder of scientific inquiry without misplaced worship of speculative pronouncements made in its name. Berlinski is the most enjoyable antidote to scientism I know."" -Michael Keas, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science, Biola University, author of Unbelievable: 7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion ""Dr. Berlinski explores everything from the complicated spawning behavior of salmon and the problems with the RNA World hypothesis to various acute challenges to modern evolutionary theory, including the Cambrian explosion, molecular machines, and the failure of punctuated equilibrium. As he shows, trouble is brewing for Darwin on other fronts as well-population genetics, taxonomy, behavioral psychology, and the philosophy of biology, to name just a few. In total, Science after Babel is a lively mix of deep scientific knowledge, literary skill, and humor.... I highly recommend the book and hope it is widely read."" -Ola Hössjer, Professor of Mathematical Statistics, Stockholm University

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available