Soul-searching on the Internet
“The entire scope of human experience can be viewed as a collective effect resulting from elementary particles dutifully following well-understood equations.” Statements like this excite d...
What revolution?
Physicists tend to shy away from philosophy (and religion, although there are some exceptions). Any dealings with philosophy – other than those concerning quantum theory – tend to be super...
Are science and religion compatible?
There is currently a considerable resurgence of interest in the debate between science and religion. This is evident in the writings of both “creation scientists” and “new age”...
Science pushed to the limit
What are the limits of science? Will the pursuit of knowledge lead to a never-ending source of intellectual (and perhaps even monetary) riches? Or are scientists misleading the public on this score, i...
Predicting the impact of science
At the beginning of this century, before the advent of quantum mechanics, who could have foreseen molecular biology? And in the 1940s, before the discovery of DNA and the development of computers, who...
Living with foresight
One side effect of the increasing emphasis on maximizing the economic return on public investments in science and technology has been the growth of “foresight exercises” around the world. ...
What is truth in science?
“What is Truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not wait for an answer.” Francis Bacon’s well known quotation shows Pilate to be a busy and sensible administrator, who was aware of pr...
What’s wrong with relativism?
In his article last year, the Belgian physicist Jean Bricmont separated out some of the distinct strands in “science studies” and tried to provide a considered critique of sociology and hi...
Science studies – what’s wrong?
Physicists form a rather closed group of people. You may occasionally talk to a chemist or a mathematician, but how often do you cross the campus to speak to people working in the relatively new acade...
Glimmer of peace in the science wars
Furious clashes on the nature of science have taken place recently between sociologists and scientists. Matin Durrani reports from the two sides' peace talks
