The Science Myth

This philosophical introduction to and discussion of social and political studies of science argues that scientific knowledge is socially constructed.

In a multitude of ways, science affects the life of almost every person on earth. From medicine and nutrition to communication and transportation, the products of scientific research have changed human life. These changes have mostly taken place in the last two centuries, so rapidly that the average person is unable to keep informed. A consequence of this "information gap" has been the increasing suspicion of science and scientists. The lack of true understanding of science, especially of "fundamental" research, motivates this effort to narrow this gap by explaining scientific endeavor and the data-driven worldviews of scientists. Key Features Fills an existing void in the understanding of science among the general population Is written in a nontechnical language to facilitate understanding Covers a wide range of science-related subjects: The value of "basic research" How scientists work by sharing results and ideas How science is funded by governments and private entities Addresses the possible dangers of research and how society deals with such risks Expresses the viewpoint of an author with extensive experience working in laboratories all over the world

In Science and Myth the author shows, in the first place, that science too has its mythology, unrecognized and unacknowledged though the fact be. These scientistic myths, however, turn out to constitute what he terms anti-myths: "a kind that would banish all others, and in so doing, undermine not only religion and morality, but indeed all culture in its higher modes." What invalidates the contemporary "scientific" world-view and renders it "mythical" in the pejorative sense, he goes on to contend, proves finally to be the underlying hypothesis that human perception terminates, not in an external object, but in a subjective phantasm. Not only does the author maintain cogently that visual perception, in particular, does penetrate to the external world, but basing himself on traditional sources-fromVedic to Biblical-he shows that sight as such opens in principle to a veritable gnosis: a "seeing of the Real."

Popular science readers embrace epics—the sweeping stories that claim to tell the history of all the universe, from the cosmological to the biological to the social. And the appeal is understandable: in writing these works, authors such as E. O. Wilson or Steven Weinberg deliberately seek to move beyond particular disciplines, to create a compelling story weaving together natural historical events, scientific endeavor, human discovery, and contemporary existential concerns. In AFinal Story, Nasser Zakariya delves into the origins and ambitions of these scientific epics, from the nineteenth century to the present, to see what they reveal about the relationship between storytelling, integrated scientific knowledge, and historical method. While seeking to transcend the perspectives of their own eras, the authors of the epics and the debates surrounding them are embedded in political and social struggles of their own times, struggles to which the epics in turn respond. In attempts to narrate an approach to a final, true account, these synthesizing efforts shape and orient scientific developments old and new. By looking closely at the composition of science epics and the related genres developed along with them, we are able to view the historical narrative of science as a form of knowledge itself, one that discloses much about the development of our understanding of and relationship to science over time.

This book uses a wealth of examples and anecdotes to describe what science is and what it can and cannot do, along the way debunking many of the popular myths and misconceptions about science.

Shamos argues that a meaningful scientific literacy cannot be achieved in the first place, and the attempt is a misuse of human resources on a grand scale. He is skeptical about forecasts of "critical shortfalls in scientific manpower" and about the motives behind crash programs to get more young people into the science pipeline.

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