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Science in the Looking Glass: What Do Scientists Really Know?
How do scientific conjectures become laws? Why does proof mean different things in different sciences? Do numbers exist, or were they invented? Why do some laws turn out to be wrong?
In this wide-ranging book, Brian Davies discusses the basis for scientists' claims to knowledge about the world. He looks at science historically, emphasizing not only the achievements of scientists from Galileo onwards, but also their mistakes. He rejects the claim that all scientific knowledge is provisional, by citing examples from chemistry, biology and geology. A major feature of the book is its defence of the view that mathematics was invented rather than discovered. While experience has shown that disentangling knowledge from opinion and aspiration is a hard task, this book provides a clear guide to the difficulties.
Full of illuminating examples and quotations, and with a scope ranging from psychology and evolution to quantum theory and mathematics, this book brings alive issues at the heart of all science.
In this wide-ranging book, Brian Davies discusses the basis for scientists' claims to knowledge about the world. He looks at science historically, emphasizing not only the achievements of scientists from Galileo onwards, but also their mistakes. He rejects the claim that all scientific knowledge is provisional, by citing examples from chemistry, biology and geology. A major feature of the book is its defence of the view that mathematics was invented rather than discovered. While experience has shown that disentangling knowledge from opinion and aspiration is a hard task, this book provides a clear guide to the difficulties.
Full of illuminating examples and quotations, and with a scope ranging from psychology and evolution to quantum theory and mathematics, this book brings alive issues at the heart of all science.
- GenresPhilosophyScience
306 pages, Paperback
First published August 7, 2003
About the author
E. Brian Davies
6 books4 followersEdward Brian Davies was a professor of Mathematics, King's College London (1981–2010), and was the author of the popular science book Science in the Looking Glass: What do Scientists Really Know. In 2010, he was awarded a Gauss Lecture by the German Mathematical Society.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 23, 2019
This was something new and challenging from the genre of popular Science books. Some of the sections were clearly meant for those with good grasp on relevant areas of Maths/Physics and as a result I didn't clearly understand some of the sections, particulary on QM etc.
The author's views on the nature of mathematics, the possibility of discovering(inventing?) a theory of everything were quite different from what we generally hear from other Physicists/Mathematicians. He doesn't favour Platonism and suggests that the mathematical models that we create to explain and predict reality should not be confused with reality itself.
Overall I liked this book and if someone reading this knows any similar ones, I'd be grateful for the recommendations.
The author's views on the nature of mathematics, the possibility of discovering(inventing?) a theory of everything were quite different from what we generally hear from other Physicists/Mathematicians. He doesn't favour Platonism and suggests that the mathematical models that we create to explain and predict reality should not be confused with reality itself.
Overall I liked this book and if someone reading this knows any similar ones, I'd be grateful for the recommendations.
March 16, 2015
Deeply philosophical but backed by a ton of history and examples. Science is fantastic but far from perfect.
December 18, 2015
This delivers a refreshing perspective on how mathematics is used across the sciences (and how it got this way). Really enjoyed this!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews