The golem : what you should know about science / Harry Collins, Trevor Pinch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collins, H. M. (Harry M.), 1943- author.

Pinch, T. J. (Trevor J.), author.

Series:

Canto classics.

Canto classics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science--History.

Science.

Science--Social aspects--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xix, 192 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Summary:

Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch liken science to the Golem, a creature from Jewish mythology, powerful yet potentially dangerous, a gentle, helpful creature that may yet run amok at any moment. Through a series of intriguing case studies the authors debunk the traditional view that science is the straightforward result of competent theorisation, observation and experimentation. The very well-received first edition generated much debate, reflected in a substantial new Afterword in this second edition, which seeks to place the book in what have become known as 'the science wars'.

Contents:

The golem

Edible knowledge : the chemical transfer of memory

Two experiments that 'proved' the theory of relativity

The sun in a test tube : the story of cold fusion

The germs of dissent : Louis Pasteur and the origins of life

A new window on the universe : the non-detection of gravitational radiation

The sex life of the whiptail lizard

Set the controls for the heart of the sun : the strange story of the missing solar neutrinos

Putting the golem to work

Golem and the scientists.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-38687-X

1-107-29975-6

1-139-89390-4

1-107-41437-7

1-107-39540-2

1-107-39060-5

1-107-29561-0

1-107-38768-X