Overview

Since Galileo, critics have waged a relentless assault against science, attacking it as dehumanizing, reductionist, relativistic, dominating, and imperialistic. Supporters meanwhile view science as synonymous with modernity and progress. The current debates over the role of science-- described by such headlines as Scientists are Urged to Fight Back Against 'Politically Correct' Critics in The Chronicle of Higher Education--testify to how deeply divided we remain about the values and responsibilities of science in the modern age. Acknowledging the validity of a deep skepticism about science but eager to preserve its strengths and values, Alfred I. Tauber's anthology seeks to avoid an either/or configuration. Science, Tauber argues, is fundamentally pluralistic and must accept detracting criticism as part of its very code in the hope that, in its defense, the scientific enterprise is strengthened and reaffirmed. Featuring essays by a wide range of interdisciplinary, classical, and contemporary thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Thomas Kuhn, Hilary Putnam, Evelyn Fox Keller, and Max Weber, the work is divided into five parts: science and its worldview; the problem of scientific realism; the nature of scientific change; the boundaries of science; and science and values.

Full Product Details

9780814782187

Table of Contents

Reviews

This is a must read for sexuality educators and youth workers concerned about the power of pedagogy and folklore as they swirl in the minds of youth. Whatley and Henken construct a magnificent argument about listening to the beliefs, the jokes, the sometimes very wrong headed, sometimes brilliant folklore narrated by youth as we accompany them into conversations about sexuality, health, desire, and danger. If adults can be useful at all, it is only with the guidance of Whatley and Henken that we have a chance at engaging with, rather than lecturing to, the fertile minds and bodies of America's youth. This book is fun, clever, engaging and provocative. -Michelle Fine, CUNY Graduate Center, author of Framing Dropouts: Notes on the Politics of an Urban High School

A book with a wonderful interdisciplinary idea-using sexual urban legends as part of high school and college sex education. - The Women's Review of Books , Oct. 2001 An entertaining and useful book which describes the ways in which folklore might be used to enhance sex and relationships education. - Sex Education Matters , Books that deal with adolescent sexuality have one of two audiences: adults or teens. Finally a book that bridges what often appears to be an unbridgeable chasm. Henken, a folklorist, explains what young people are--really--saying to each other in their private moments; while Whatley, a biologist and health educator, provides the correctives to these rumors and folk beliefs. The book, written in a lively style, takes the reality of boys and girls seriously, while never flinching from providing the best health information available. While many of the stories presented may be disturbing, each presents how gender and sexuality is interpreted. This is a book that should serve as a standard text for courses on sexuality in high schools, colleges, and for parents who want to know what their children believe. -Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University, author of Manufacturing Tales: Sex and Money in Contemporary Legends Whatley and Henkin have written a book that is as intelligent as it is interesting and funny. - Journal of Sex Research , This is a must read for sexuality educators and youth workers concerned about the power of pedagogy and folklore as they swirl in the minds of youth. Whatley and Henken construct a magnificent argument about listening to the beliefs, the jokes, the sometimes very wrong headed, sometimes brilliant folklore narrated by youth as we accompany them into conversations about sexuality, health, desire, and danger. If adults can be useful at all, it is only with the guidance of Whatley and Henken that we have a chance at engaging with, rather than lecturing to, the fertile minds and bodies of America's youth. This book is fun, clever, engaging and provocative. -Michelle Fine, CUNY Graduate Center, author of Framing Dropouts: Notes on the Politics of an Urban High School

<p> This is a must read for sexuality educators and youth workers concerned about the power of pedagogy and folklore as they swirl in the minds of youth. Whatley and Henken construct a magnificent argument about listening to the beliefs, the jokes, the sometimes very wrong headed, sometimes brilliant folklore narrated by youth as we accompany them into conversations about sexuality, health, desire, and danger. If adults can be useful at all, it is only with the guidance of Whatley and Henken that we have a chance at engaging with, rather than lecturing to, the fertile minds and bodies of America's youth. This book is fun, clever, engaging and provocative. -Michelle Fine, CUNY Graduate Center, author of Framing Dropouts: Notes on the Politics of an Urban High School

Author Information

Alfred I. Tauber is Director of the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University

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