Imperfect Oracle: The Epistemic and Moral Authority of Science

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O R A C L E I M P E R F E C T O R A C L E T T H E O D O R E L . B R O W N B R O W N P E N N STATE PRESS “This book aims to provide a rich, overarching account of the authority of science in American society. It examines the nature of scientists’ cognitive and moral authority; its historical origins; its roles and limits in various spheres of society, including law, the courts, state policy, public culture, and religious life; the sources and conditions of scientific authority; and its conflicts with other sources of authority, such as common sense, religious conviction, and legal practices. Ted Brown makes a very significant contribution to the field of ‘science studies.’ He succeeds in synthesizing a diverse set of scholarly insights from the literature in various fields and unifies (or reformulates) them into one powerful account of scientific authority that stands on its own. Imperfect Oracle provides a fresh and engaging perspective. The author creates a bridge between different disciplines by approaching issues like scientific testimony, evidence, and credibility through the work of philosophers, sociologists, public policy scientists, historians, and biographers, among others. The book is exceptionally well written, with clear, concise, lively, and well-balanced prose. The virtue of Imperfect Oracle is that it provides a more comprehensive and synoptic view of scientific authority than is otherwise available.” —Jerry Doppelt, University of California, San Diego to give great weight to the opinions of scientific does scientific authority actually function in our and then traces the historical growth of scientific society. In Part II, he analyzes how scientific ISBN: 978-0-271-03535-2 9 780271 035352 9 0 0 0 0 The Pennsylvania State University Press University Park, Pennsylvania www.psupress.org Aside from his scientific research publications, ...