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Ignorance - How It Drives Science (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R554
Discovery Miles 5 540
You Save: R131
(19%)
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Ignorance - How It Drives Science (Hardcover)
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List price R685
Loot Price R554
Discovery Miles 5 540
You Save R131 (19%)
Expected to ship within 9 - 15 working days
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Knowledge is a big subject, says Stuart Firestein, but ignorance is
a bigger one. And it is ignorance-not knowledge-that is the true
engine of science. Most of us have a false impression of science as
a surefire, deliberate, step-by-step method for finding things out
and getting things done. In fact, says Firestein, more often than
not, science is like looking for a black cat in a dark room, and
there may not be a cat in the room. The process is more hit-or-miss
than you might imagine, with much stumbling and groping after
phantoms. But it is exactly this "not knowing," this puzzling over
thorny questions or inexplicable data, that gets researchers into
the lab early and keeps them there late, the thing that propels
them, the very driving force of science. Firestein shows how
scientists use ignorance to program their work, to identify what
should be done, what the next steps are, and where they should
concentrate their energies. And he includes a catalog of how
scientists use ignorance, consciously or unconsciously-a remarkable
range of approaches that includes looking for connections to other
research, revisiting apparently settled questions, using small
questions to get at big ones, and tackling a problem simply out of
curiosity. The book concludes with four case histories-in cognitive
psychology, theoretical physics, astronomy, and neuroscience-that
provide a feel for the nuts and bolts of ignorance, the day-to-day
battle that goes on in scientific laboratories and in scientific
minds with questions that range from the quotidian to the profound.
Turning the conventional idea about science on its head, Ignorance
opens a new window on the true nature of research. It is a
must-read for anyone curious about science.
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