Sometime the universe works like that
Aug. 14th, 2006 11:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysIt was interesting to listen to Robyn Williams and Paul Callaghan on Kim Hill's show. They both talked about the state of science and the lack of understanding and respect which lets in the kind of sloppy thinking of various pseudo science ideas. Interesting because I was reading about the exactly the same thing in Richard Dawkins' Unweaving the Rainbow. This book was first published in '98 but has been re-released recently. What he wrote about the state of science and the need for people to understand it better is unfortunately more relevant now than it was 8 years ago. The notion that we need to need to look for the poetical in science is also interesting - I agree but not necessarily with the way he described it.
Unweaving the Rainbow is a bit of a mixture of a book. It seems cobbled together from other various writings. So there is the interesting stuff about the state of science couple with some writing about DNA fingerprinting which has been superseded by time and numerous CSI shows. Then there is some rather tacky attacks on his critics. All the more tacky because the prime target, Stephen Jay Gould, is now dead. Then to cap it all off is a recap of his arguments from preceding books. This was done for a presentation I think, but whatever the reason it is superb. Dawkins has a tendency to take long diversions in his books. While interesting it means that it takes a long time for him to come to a point. These chapters are like a distillation of the arguments. Valuable ammunition indeed in the fight against fuzzy thinking.
My trivia notes for the day. Dr Who fans may note that this book is dedicated to Dawkins' wife Lalla Ward. Yes *that* Lalla Ward. Knitting fans may note that she wrote a knitting pattern book called Beastly Knits.
Unweaving the Rainbow is a bit of a mixture of a book. It seems cobbled together from other various writings. So there is the interesting stuff about the state of science couple with some writing about DNA fingerprinting which has been superseded by time and numerous CSI shows. Then there is some rather tacky attacks on his critics. All the more tacky because the prime target, Stephen Jay Gould, is now dead. Then to cap it all off is a recap of his arguments from preceding books. This was done for a presentation I think, but whatever the reason it is superb. Dawkins has a tendency to take long diversions in his books. While interesting it means that it takes a long time for him to come to a point. These chapters are like a distillation of the arguments. Valuable ammunition indeed in the fight against fuzzy thinking.
My trivia notes for the day. Dr Who fans may note that this book is dedicated to Dawkins' wife Lalla Ward. Yes *that* Lalla Ward. Knitting fans may note that she wrote a knitting pattern book called Beastly Knits.