Closer to Truth: Science, Meaning, and the Future - Hardcover

Kuhn, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0275993892 ISBN 13: 9780275993894

Publisher: Praeger, 2007

Synopsis

Explore the latest scientific research, philosophical thinking, and expressions of human creativity. Some of the world's most esteemed experts-Nobel laureates, best-selling authors, and renowned scholars-engage in spontaneous and intimate conversations that combine hard facts with an inspiring, and breathtaking, look into our future. Based on the public television program of the same name, Closer To Truth features distinguished specialists who forcefully debate provocative subjects that have broad ramifications for the population at large: Who gets to validate alternative medicine? How does basic science support national security? Can we believe in both religion and science? At the heart is the question: how will scientific advances and the philosophical issues they create affect the individual as well as humanity as a whole? Closer To Truth: Science, Meaning, and the Future explores the latest scientific research, philosophical thinking, and expressions of human creativity. Some of the world's most esteemed experts-Nobel laureates, best-selling authors, and renowned scholars-engage in spontaneous and intimate conversations that combine hard facts with an inspiring-and breathtaking-look into our future. Based on the public television program of the same name, Closer To Truth features distinguished specialists who forcefully debate provocative subjects that have broad ramifications for the population at large: Who gets to validate alternative medicine? How does basic science support national security? Can we believe in both religion and science? At the heart is the question: how will scientific advances and the philosophical issues they create affect the individual as well as humanity as a whole? Whether the subject is the meaning of human consciousness, the ethics of testing experimental drugs on sick people, scientific thinking versus religious beliefs, or how music may help mental development, Closer To Truth uncovers exciting new lines of inquiry and offers fresh perspectives. Participants include Nobel laureates Murray Gell-Mann and David Baltimore; authors Michael Crichton, Octavia Butler, and David Brin; astrophysicists Alan Guth and Neil deGrasse Tyson; planetary scientist Bruce Murray; physicist Steven Koonin; quantum theorist Seth Lloyd; molecular biologist Lucy Shapiro; neuroscientists Nancy Andreasen, Terry Sejnowski, and Christof Koch; psychiatrist Leslie Brothers; Psychology Today's Robert Epstein; musicologists Jeanne Bamberger and Robert Freeman; ethicist Alexander Capron; skeptic Michael Shermer; theologian Nancey Murphy; and Islamic scientist Muzaffar Iqbal.

About this title

Review:

"The book is a valuable resource for the most recent developments in science and trends in intellectual thought. It will inspire readers to learn more about the fundamental issues of human existence, to think about who they are, why they are here, and where they are going. In a short section following the debates, Kuhn discusses different scientific models for explaining reality. The reader is given helpful background information for each discussion with an introduction and interview of panel participants. Although the topics are advanced, the discussions do not go into great scientific detail or use extensive scientific terminology. Overall, this book is aimed at those who wish to explore philosophical questions in a scientific context. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates; two-year technical program students." - Choice

"[E]xplores the latest scientific research, philosophical thinking and considerations of the challenges facing mankind in the future, and is based on the PBS TV show of the same name. Specialists debate a range of social scientific and ethical questions, from how alternative medicine may be validated to how science supports political and social interests. In offering up a blend of debate and dialogue, Closer to Truth supercedes similar titles and provides both college level science holdings and general interest collections with a powerful survey." - The Bookwatch

"[E]xamine issues such as the nature of consciousness, autism, the legitimization of alternative medicine, pharmaceutical testing controversies, the origins of order in the universe, the possibility extra-terrestrial life, the frontiers of quantum computing, and the role of basic science in national security." - SciTech Book News

Synopsis:

"Closer to Truth" explores the latest scientific research, philosophical thinking, and expressions of human creativity. Some of the world's most esteemed experts - Nobel laureates, best-selling authors, and renowned scholars - engage in conversations that combine hard facts with an inspiring - and breathtaking - look into our future. Based on the U.S. television programme of the same name, this book features distinguished specialists who forcefully debate provocative subjects such as: who gets to validate alternative medicine? How does basic science support national security? Can we believe in both religion and science? At the heart is the question: how will scientific advances and the philosophical issues they create affect the individual as well as humanity as a whole? Whether the subject is the meaning of human consciousness, the ethics of testing experimental drugs on sick people, scientific thinking versus religious beliefs, or how music may help mental development, "Closer to Truth" uncovers exciting new lines of inquiry and offers fresh perspectives.

Participants include Nobel laureates Murray Gell-Mann and David Baltimore; authors Michael Crichton, Octavia Butler and David Brin; astrophysicists Alan Guth and Neil deGrasse Tyson; planetary scientist Bruce Murray; physicist Steven Koonin; quantum theorist Seth Lloyd; molecular biologist Lucy Shapiro; neuroscientists Nancy Andreasen, Terry Sejnowski and Christof Koch; psychiatrist Leslie Brothers; "Psychology Today's" Robert Epstein; musicologists Jeanne Bamberger and Robert Freeman; ethicist Alexander Capron; skeptic Michael Shermer; theologian Nancey Murphy; and Islamic scientist Muzaffar Iqbal. Debates include numerous controversial issues, such as alternative medicine, autism, and religion. Contributors include many well-known figures, including Michael Crichton and two Nobel Prize winners.

About this edition

• Publisher: Praeger
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0275993892
• ISBN 13: 9780275993894
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 328