The Wisdom of Science: Its Relevance to Culture and Religion

by R.J. Brown, Robert Hanbury Brown, Hanbury Brown

Book Overview

We live in a culture which, while largely dependent on science for its material welfare, is largely ignorant of the new ideas and perspectives on which science is based. This book examines the true significance of science and technology for society over the last three hundred years. Professor Hanbury Brown's insight and experience have resulted in a novel approach to the discussion of the cultural role of science. After reviewing the history of how...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521314488
• ISBN13: 9780521314480
• Release Date: November 1986
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.8" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

Wisdom about science

The author at the time of original publication was Professor of Astronomy at the University of Sydney and he set out to explain science to the public and to locate the adventure of science in a wider cultural context. As the director of an observatory in rural New South Wales, and host at hundreds of half-hour tours, Professor Brown recalls 'To me it was profoundly unsatisfactory to send people away from this beautiful, highly sophisticated, and yet apparently useless instrument, surrounded as it was by thousands of sheep and a vast expanse of wheat, without having shown them that it was really part of an even greater world of which most of them were unaware, the ancient and invisible college of science'. This is the third book that has produced to make up for the lack of time on the tours. It is very clearly written and one has the feeling of a truly devoted and humane scholar speaking courteously and unpatronisingly as he presumably did with his visitors at Narrabri. The task of communicating with laypeople is an immensely important one, and many illustrious people have assisted, from T. H. Huxley to Sir Peter Medawar. Still, the scientists who accept their responsibilities in this field remain exceptions, with sad results for science and for society as well. Professor Brown has painted a big picture, touching many topics in the history of science and technology, the philosophy of science, modern developments in physics and the religious dimension of science. Inevitably his account is thin in parts, leaving irritating loose ends. This may not matter too much if the primary purpose of the work is to lead laypeople some way down the path of understanding. But still, the contents need to stand up to criticism or the people will be misled. For example Professor Brown promotes the idea that quantum physics has refuted traditional views such as the notion that there is an objective world of nature whose structure is independent of us. This interpretation of the situation is widely disputed. Elsewhere the author is very much on target in confronting the problems, which arise from teaching science as though it is the only authority for belief. This (as Brown explains) leads to a futile conflict between science and religion; it also obscures the essentially conjectural nature of scientific theories and the dynamics of scientific advance. It produces the situation described by Gerald Holton. "The most sensitive, the most fragile part of the total ecology of science is the understanding on the part of the scientists themselves of the nature of the scientific enterprise".This problem is important and it may be asking too much to expect Professor Brown to rectify the situation in one book, or even in three. His heart is certainly in the right place and he makes some good points on the cultural value of science, noting that few scientists have tried to correct the limited 'instrumental' view of science as 'a box of clever tricks which can produc

The Wisdom of Science

The book,"Boffin", which was also written by Hanbury Brown, contains an epilog, that discusses the science vs. religion issues that he encountered as he traveled the world lecturing in the sciences. The epilog was extremely poignant and I was naturally driven to obtain this second book by Brown. In "Wisdom of Science" the history of science is described from medieval times to the present, with particular care taken to distiuish between science sas a process rather than the outcomes of science. Also, the uncertainties surrounding what we know or do not understand actually make science a discipline that continuously searches for thuth. The second part of the book deals with science and culture, and describes how much of the citizenry does not understand science and disapproves of it. On the other hand the applications of science that make our lives more pleasant are readily accepted. The real point, though, is that the applicatons of science are not really science but technology or mechanics. So, what is the value of pure sceince? Brown, in "Wisdom of Science", addresses this question using very clear, well-conceived arguments. The third part of the book considers the relationship between science and religion. In this section he gives rather persuasive arguments as to why and how modern religion (Christianity in particular) could serve the people of today in a more meaningful way. The early church used the science of the time in writing its doctrine, which was meant to provide an explanation of the world to the polulace. Obviously, science has changed dramatically since its beginnings while religion has remained virtually unchanged. This is the best book I have read in a long, long time. Actually, it should be required reading for anyone who teaches science. Perhaps science educators could move away from the idea that science is the accumulation of huge volumes of facts, and begin teaching science as a process through which we search for truth.