About the Book
Table of Contents:
Preface by Sir David Green; Introduction by Lloyd Anderson; Returning science to Islam - the rocky road ahead, by Pervez Hoodbhoy; Trusting Scientists, Daniel Glaser; The way we trust now: the authority of science and the character of the scientist, by Steven Shapin
About the Author :
Steven Shapin is Professor of the History of Science, joining Harvard in 2004 after previous appointments as Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego, and at the Science Studies Unit, Edinburgh University. His books include Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life (Princeton University Press, 1985; with Simon Schaffer), A Social History of Truth: Civility and Science in Seventeenth-Century England (University of Chicago Press, 1994), and The Scientific Revolution (University of Chicago Press, 1996; now translated into 14 languages). He has published widely in the historical sociology of scientific knowledge, and his current research interests include historical and contemporary studies of dietetics, the nature of entrepreneurial science, and modern relations between academia and industry. He is working on a book about scientific expertise and personal virtue in late modern America, and has received several awards including the J. D. Bernal Prize for career contributions to the field. Pervez Hoodbhoy is Professor of Physics at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad where he has taught for over 30 years. He holds a PhD in nuclear physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the recipient of several awards including the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics, the Baker Award for Electronics, and the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the popularisation of science. He is Visiting Professor at MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Maryland and often lectures at US and European universities and research laboratories. Dr Hoodbhoy is involved in social issues as well, such as women's rights, environment, education, and nuclear disarmament. He is author of Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality, now in five languages, and has made video documentaries on the India-Pakistan nuclear issue as well on the Kashmir conflict. He is frequently invited to comment on South Asian politics in Pakistani and international media. Daniel Glaser is an imaging neuroscientist and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London. He uses fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to examine human brain function and how experience, prejudice and expectation alter the way we see the world. He comes from an unusual academic background: he studied mathematics and English literature at Cambridge, achieved a Master's in cognitive science at the University of Sussex, and followed this with graduate work in neurobiology. In 2002 he was appointed first 'Scientist in Residence' at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, where he collaborated with the ICA curators to put on talks, hold panel discussions, and conduct psychological experiments. He has made numerous radio appearances, featured in newspaper and net articles, and chairs the ICA's Cafe Scientifique. Daniel is interested in finding novel ways for scientists to collaborate with arts practitioners and engage with the public. Lloyd Anderson is the British Council's Director of Science, Engineering and Environment, based in Manchester, UK. He holds a first degree in Botany from Imperial College London, a PhD in Plant Physiology from Lancaster University and has published over 60 scientific papers and articles. In his current job, he is responsible for setting corporate policy in science, engineering and environment in close consultation with major UK stakeholders and partners; helping to translate that global policy into strategies at the regional and local level. With science network representatives in 60 countries, he ensures that British Council teams overseas promote British science innovatively and effectively. He works at senior level within the UK science community and Whitehall to build understanding and support for the British Council's science work, and is a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, British Ecological Society, the Institute of Biology, and an Associate of the Royal College of Science.
Review :
In the Herald (Review)04 December 2004 One of 10 sets of essays commissioned by the British Council to look at 'a central issue from a variety of angles and viewpoints', this volume concerns how we should feel about and deal with science and, more importantly, scientists. Each essayist hits topical points, notably MMR. It covers the erroneous belief that scientists are somehow more moral, or virtuous, about their pursuits than anyone else. A quote from 1942 that there is no 'satisfactory evidence' that scientists are 'recruited from the ranks of those who exhibit an unusual degree of moral integrity' demonstrates that this is no new issue. Along the way, a strong dig is made at the issue of peer-review, noting how the prevailing method for evaluating the worth of scientific 'news' has created a highly conservative scientific world, where opting to upset the status quo and those it benefits is highly unlikely. The way ahead is, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, heralded by Hugh Grant, chief executive of Monsanto, who notes that we are moving from being a 'trust-me' society to a 'show-me' society. At the end of this readable, intelligently provocative survey one is left feeling wiser if not safer. Science is, after all, about 'weight of evidence'. It does not deal in absolutes, regardless of what our training leads us to demand. A brilliant book that speaks well for the series.
