Whither Science? Three Essays

by Danko Antolovic

In this collection of essays we explore some basic questions facing science today. Modern science has become a truly global endeavor, which influences all of contemporary life, and like other great human endeavors, science has its own historical origins and intellectual foundations. It has a set of accepted principles, as well as actual practices that do not always follow the professed principles, and it has choices to make for the future. We look into the fundamental questions about the purposes, practices and future of science because we believe that both scientists and the broader public ‒ that is, all of us who benefit from science ‒ should be mindful of the social, historical and material consequences of science’s ubiquitous presence.

This book is written in non-technical language, and we intend it to be easily accessible to general readers who are interested in science and its broader implications. It will also be of interest to scientists who seek to explore the intellectual context of their discipline. No specialized technical knowledge is necessary to follow the book, and some scientific subjects that may not be readily familiar are briefly explained along the way. We make a few references to historical writings, and we encourage interested readers to pursue them further, but they are not essential for the understanding of these essays.

Nook

First published February 21, 2015

About the author

Danko Antolovic is a scientist and technologist whose professional activities and publications cover research in quantum chemistry and computational modeling of molecules, research in solar energy for space applications, design of systems for image analysis and robotic vision, and development of wireless communication technology.

Recently he has written about the nature of scientific work and about unresolved problems in the scientific understanding of the world :

"Descartes' Menagerie of Demons";
"Grist for Leibniz's Mill";
"Extractive Nature of Scientific Practice".

He is also the author of a few novellas and short stories:

"My Name is Daedalus: A Memoir" (Bewildering Stories, Issue 777)
"Woman from Colchis" (Scarlet Leaf Review, Oct 2018)
"The Ancestors' Long Shadow" (Bewildering Stories, Issue 954)

Danko enjoys reading folk tales, fantastic and slightly surreal stories, and occasional science fiction.

Danko's Twitter page

Reviews

[Sofía · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a collection of excerpts of the history in science and how science has been changing through time, and how people had been changing they idea of what science is. We give a glance inside of the history of scientific investigation and we travel through different cultures and how these people have interpreted science in their time, from the ancient Greece to our times.

The author mentions the importance of scientific discoveries and the impact in the world and its significance for different fields. Another important subject to highlight is science founding pointing out, the importance of it and how it works. Humans need science to move forward and keep all the innovation and technologies going. Also, discusses about the process of acquiring scientific knowledge from the basis of the empirical inquiry, and how scientists go back to the basis over and over again to start a new scientific discovery.

Finally, we get the inside of where science stands today, and how fundamentally important is for our modern and digital society.

These essays are an interesting and a quick read. However, these tends to be a little bit repetitive with a couple of complicated words to understand at first glance, but in general it’s fine.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worthy of respectful disagreement

In his preface, author Danko Antolovic states that he either wants the book to inspire the reader or to be worthy of respectful disagreement. I fall into the latter group as I disagreed with a lot of what Antolovic writes particularly his allegation about the lack of contribution of science to societal wellbeing from the mid-20th century. I think he conflates what science can know versus societal will to make tough choices, particularly in the areas of fossil fuels and food production. Where science has had a triumph Antolovic attributes it to engineering. I also question his opinion that the next big question is about the human mind. Nonetheless, I find Antolovic’s writing clear and he makes well-structured arguments. I also liked his writing about the business of science. I particularly liked the essay on science and speculative thought but didn’t agreed with his comparison of science fiction to fantasy. So even though I disagreed with many of Antolovic’s opinions, I did enjoy reading the book.

Disclosure: I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.