"Alanında titizlikle seçilmiş konuları dikkatle ele alan kapsamlı bir bilimsel düşünce tarihi. Çalışmanın, bu alandaki geniş ve derin bir bilgi birikimine dayandığı her sayfasında görülüyor… Mükemmel bir kitap." - David Philip Miller, Tarih ve Felsefe Profesörü, New South Wales Üniversitesi, Avustralya-
"Mükemmel ve dengeli bir bakış. Özellikle büyünün, modern fiziğin gelişmesindeki önemine yapılan vurgu dikkate değer; bilim ile din arasındaki ilişkiler, ayrıca bilimin yaygın kültürel rolü, zekice ve sağduyulu bir yaklaşımla ele alınmış." - Michael Hunter, Tarih Profesörü, Birbeck, University of London, İngiltere -
Platon'dan, Kopernik'e, Darwin'den Einstein'a kadar uzanan bu olağanüstü metin, bilimin nasıl modern kültürün böylesine egemen, böylesine önemli bir boyutu hâline geldiğini anlatmaktadır. Akıcı ve kolay okunan bir anlatımla, Antik Yunan'dan yirminci yüzyıla kadar bilimsel düşüncede meydana gelen önemli gelişmelerin zengin bir tarihsel incelemesini veren John Henry, bu süreçte bilim tarihine dair hatalı varsayımları da düzeltmektedir. Sağlam bir güncel tarih araştırmaları temeline oturan bu kitap, yeni bilim kuramlarının ortaya çıkışını açıklamakta ve bu kuramların çağdaş düşünce üzerindeki etkilerini irdelemektedir.
Bilimsel Düşüncenin Kısa Tarihi, bilim tarihini toplumsal, kültürel, tarihsel bağlamına yerleştirirken, aşağıdaki konuları da ele almaktadır: - bilim ile din arasındaki ilişki - bilim ile büyünün tarihi - deneysel ve mekanik felsefe - Newton'un mirası - Evrim kuramları
Excellent book. I especially recommend it to those who study the History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, or Religion and Theology. I also think that it would be meaningful to anyone interested in History, History of Ideas, Political History, and Sociology/Social Transformations.
Initially I took issue with the way that the terms “natural,” “secular” and “rational” were being used to describe early Greek thinkers in the first chapter -—because our modern sense of these words cannot rightly be applied to the ancient Greek philosophers. But that is a very small portion of the book; overall John Henry exudes brilliance, insight, and aplomb as a writer and thinker on the History of Science.
My area of research is Philosophy of Mind and the evolution of theories of knowledge from ancient eras to the present. What was most fascinating to me in this book was following the line of thinking (about ultimate causes) from the idea of an Unmoved Mover (Aristotle), giving way to occult forces (Newton), giving way to abstracted forces/laws of nature (Descartes, Theory of Evolution), and presently culminating in forces said to be described by mathematical equations that have no physical reality (Quantum Mechanics). John Henry’s work presents intriguing detailed accounts of specific iconic events and figures associated with these movements—- compared to the more general changes I tend to study.
I absolutely admire John Henry’s “myth busting”. He addresses important controversial topics in the Culture of Science with fairness and equanimity, which is very rare. About Darwin’s concept of evolution he writes:
“Nowadays, the picture that is usually painted for us in popular history, is that Darwin’s "Origin of Species" (1859) came as a great shock to the Victorian public and was condemned on all sides. This simply is not true… The question arises, therefore, as to why we have the impression that the church was opposed to Darwin’s theory? …Secular commentators, uninterested in distinctions between religious groups, have tended to let the opponents of evolution stand representative of the religious reaction to evolution…by suggesting that ‘religion’ itself was (and supposedly still is) opposed to evolution, they can go on to use this to suggest that ‘religion’ is opposed to ‘science’…”
Given how quick mainstream society is to internalize and regurgitate pseudoscientific claims about everything from Galileo to Quantum Mechanics, this is an incredibly valuable book. If we labor under powerful myths about the authority of science, the nature of scientific ideas, and the practice of science in modern society, then “Science” will quickly become the new opium of the people.
The extent to which Henry avoids mentioning *any* woman whose work is relevant to his "short history" is staggering, a monumental achievement. rip Lise Meitner, Caroline Herschel, Marie Curie, Émilie du Châtalet, guess you never had a scientific thought
This was the required reading for my History of Science class and as a person who doesn't know much/enough about science it was a really great starting point.