A House Built on Sand: Exposing Postmodernist Myths about Science - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195117263 ISBN 13: 9780195117264

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Cultural critics say that 'science is politics by other means,' arguing that the results of scientific inquiry are profoundly shaped by the ideological agendas of powerful elites. Physicist Alan Sokal recently poked fun at these claims by foisting a sly parody of the genre on the unwitting editors of the cultural studies journal Social Text, touching off a still-unabated torrent of heated discussion. This hard-hitting collection picks up where Sokal left off. The essayists offer crisp and detailed critiques of case studies offered by the cultural critics as evidence that scientific results tell as more about social context than they do about the natural world. Pulling no punches, they identify numerous crude factual blunders (e.g. that Newton never performed any experiments) and egregious errors of omission, such as the attempt to explain the slow development of fluid dynamics solely on the terms of gender bias. Where there are positive aspects of a flawed account,or something to be learned from it, they do not hesitate to say so. Their target is shoddy scholarship. Comprising new essays by distinguished scholars of history, philosophy and science (including Sokal himself), this book raises lively debate to a new level of seriousness.

About this title

Review:

The strenght of the book is that it provides a good transcendent critique of the excesses of a relativistic ontology, feminist critiques of science and the strong programme ... it is an important addition to the literature. (Steve Bishop, Science and Christian Belief, Vol. 13, No.1 April 2001)

this book contributes significantly to the current debate over science. (Gary Gutting, Brit Jnl for the Philosophy of Science, Vol.51, No.1.)

Noretta Koertge describes with humorous effect how widely the participants at a seminar on the science wars roamed. (The Economist)

About the Author:

Noretta Koertge is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0195117263
• ISBN 13: 9780195117264
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Koertge Noretta