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Ignorance: How It Drives Science

by Stuart Firestein
$12.90 Now $7.90 Save 39%
Compare to estimated retail price: S$36.82  

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Ignorance: How It Drives Science
Ignorance: How It Drives Science

Ignorance fuels scientific discovery and progress.

If you’ve ever felt like science was too abstract or unapproachable, "Ignorance: How It Drives Science" could be a refreshing perspective. Stuart Firestein invites you to see the beauty in not knowing, transforming the stereotype of science's rigidity to a narrative of exploration and curiosity. It’s a thought-provoking dive into the true driving force of scientific inquiry—ignorance itself—which might just make you appreciate the unknowns in life a bit more.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.
Sale

Ignorance: How It Drives Science

by Stuart Firestein
$12.90 Now $7.90 Save 39%
Compare to estimated retail price: S$36.82  

The item you've got your eye on is secondhand. You probably already know that, but just in case!

The estimated retail price shown next to any listed item represents the first-hand prices we've seen elsewhere, or the estimated original retail price of a comparable item of the same quality, construction and material offered elsewhere in new condition.

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ISBN: 9780199828074
Authors: Stuart Firestein
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date of Publication: 2012-04-23
Format: Hardcover
Related Collections: Science, Philosophy, History
Related Topics: Psychology, Astronomy, Physics, Neuroscience, History, Popular Science, Education
Goodreads rating: 3.87
(rated by 1310 readers)

Description

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,
 

Ignorance fuels scientific discovery and progress.

If you’ve ever felt like science was too abstract or unapproachable, "Ignorance: How It Drives Science" could be a refreshing perspective. Stuart Firestein invites you to see the beauty in not knowing, transforming the stereotype of science's rigidity to a narrative of exploration and curiosity. It’s a thought-provoking dive into the true driving force of scientific inquiry—ignorance itself—which might just make you appreciate the unknowns in life a bit more.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

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