The No-Nonsense Guide to Science

Science is still the great intellectual adventure, but now it is also seen as an instrument of profit, power and privilege. Wrongly used, it might yet make the 21st century our last. To make sense of this we need to let go of old ideas and assumptions.

In this No-Nonsense Guide, Jerome Ravetz introduces a new way of thinking about science, moving away from simplistic ideas of perfect certainty and objectivity. We must accept uncertainty and ignorance in the field as well as the need for citizens’ participation in the policies involving science.

The book gives a fresh look at science’s history, with a guide to the key theories, and concludes with a questionnaire that enables anyone engaged in science to locate themselves in the bigger picture.

1. Science now
2. How science changed reality
3. Second thoughts from history
4. Little Science, Big Science, Mega Science
5. Scientific objectivity
6. Uncertainty
7. Science and democracy
8. People's science
9. Science, its future and you

About the Author: Jerry Ravetz was formerly Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds University. He is the author of the classic study, Scientific Knowledge and its Social Problems, among other publications. He helped to found the Council for Science and Society, and is a pioneer in the area of science and safety. He is now an independent scholar and self-employed consultant, working mainly on problems of the management of uncertainty in risks and environmental issues.