Mazola1's review
13 Things That Don't Make Sense by Michael Brooks
In 13 Things That Don't Make Sense, Michael Brooks takes a brief look at 13 thorny problems which science has no good solution to. The problems are explained in simple terms, and include such things as death, sex, life, dark matter, and the placebo effect. What Brooks shows is that despite the best efforts of generations of scientists, and all the marvels of modern technology, we are far from understanding even such basic things as what the universe is made of and what it means to be alive.
A related, and far more interesting, topic which runs through the book is the way scientists do science. Although we tend to think of science as fact or evidence based, in fact, scientists too have their preconceived ideas and prejudices to which they cling even in the face of contrary evidence. And these can be surprisingly hard to change.
Brooks refers to Kuhn's idea that science changes by paradigm shifts. And he shows why often the paradigm doesn't shift until most of the adherents of the...more
A related, and far more interesting, topic which runs through the book is the way scientists do science. Although we tend to think of science as fact or evidence based, in fact, scientists too have their preconceived ideas and prejudices to which they cling even in the face of contrary evidence. And these can be surprisingly hard to change.
Brooks refers to Kuhn's idea that science changes by paradigm shifts. And he shows why often the paradigm doesn't shift until most of the adherents of the...more
