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Tired of popular science books written by renowned physicists who
think you cannot comprehend what they do, so... all you deserve is
the illusion of understanding? If yes, this is the book for you.
The fact that the reader may not have a scientific education does
not mean that s/he does not have the intelligence to understand
profound concepts -- as long as they are presented with semantic
and epistemological clarity. After all, Einstein said that Science
is simply the refinement of our intuition and everyday experiences.
Galloping with Light is a symbolic cavalcade that starts with the
discovery of fire 1.5 million years ago; it allegorically employs
the imagination of an adolescent called Einstein to explain the
Theory of Relativity in non-scientific terms, and ends with the
Apollo 11 landing on the Moon in 1969 -- depositing on lunar soil a
laser retro-reflector which would prove, once again, that Einstein
was right. Motivated by his own difficulties to understand
Relativity Theory, and convinced that it is possible to teach the
layperson without distorting the subject matter, the author takes
an approach utterly opposed to that of most popular science books.
Knowing he has to demolish what the reader understands by time,
distance, and motion, the author -using his experiences as a child,
adolescent, and adult- dedicates the first half of the book to
convince the reader that our intuition and common sense, as applied
to those three everyday concepts, have a foundation as solid as
that of a castle on the sand. The purpose of this book is to
demystify and 'defolklorize' the reader; to destroy the aura of
mystery and incomprehensibility surrounding Relativity Theory,
unmasking and debunking the body of popular (and scientific)
beliefs (mostly erroneous) which -taking advantage of the confusion
between relativity and subjectivity, as well as of Einstein's
popularity and prestige- have been used to validate preposterous
assertions in fields like psychology, morality, spirituality,
sociology, literature, art, etc.
- what is the relationship between the social sciences and the
natural sciences? - where do today's dominant approaches to doing
social science come from? - what are the main fissures and debates
in contemporary social scientific thought? - how are we to make
sense of seemingly contrasting approaches to how social scientists
find out about the world and justify their claims to have knowledge
of it? In this exciting handbook, Ian Jarvie and Jesus
Zamora-Bonilla have put together a wide-ranging and authoritative
overview of the main philosophical currents and traditions at work
in the social sciences today. Starting with the history of social
scientific thought, this handbook sets out to explore that core
fundamentals of social science practice, from issues of ontology
and epistemology to issues of practical method. Along the way it
investigates such notions as paradigm, empiricism, postmodernism,
naturalism, language, agency, power, culture, and causality.
Bringing together in one volume leading authorities in the field
from around the world, this book will be a must-have for any
serious scholar or student of the social sciences.
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