Science and Its Critics by John Passmore, and: Reliable Knowledge: An Exploration of the Grounds for Belief in Science by John Ziman (review)

248 Books national scientific traditions, public opinion, education, politics and economics are briefly reviewed. The penultimate Chapter 11 is entitled Science and Technology , and their distinctiveness and relationship are discussed , as are the consequences of technology and the attitudes of nonscientists toward the complexities that have been encountered in advanced technological societies. In the concluding chapter The Scientist's Responsibility, there is a brief recounting of the controversies surrounding the charge of dishonesty made against Paul Kammerer's work in Vienna on midwife toads in the 1920s and the more recent disclosure in the U.S.A. that W. A. Summerlin lied about his work on transplants in 1974, which prompts Kneller to remark that 'lies in science have-short legs' in that they can be hidden only with difficulty. After considering the sociology of science as presented by Robert Merton, Jerome Ravetz, Jiirgen Habermas, Herbert Marcuse and Theodore Roszak, Kneller discusses the management of research in science and technology . Summarized are the views of Michael Polanyi, a chemist who later became a philosopher and sociologist, who argues against planning of scientific research to promote human welfare and others of similar predisposition, such as Jacob Bronowski and Derek de Solla Price. In opposition to these, Kneller sets Alvin Weinberg, Joseph Ben-David and Stephen Toulmin, who favor varying degrees of such planning. Reviewing the controversy about the extent of controls to be accepted by scientists that have been proposed for recombinant DNA research in biology, Kneller acknowledges the difficulties in the concept of imposing democratic control on scientific research and urges that scientists and nonscientists increasingly recognize their moral and social responsibilities. The author, it seems to me, skillfully presents an account of the history, philosophy and sociology of contemporary science . I read the book with pleasure-and I cannot say this of very many books of this genre. I highly recommend the book to the readers of Leonardo. Science and Its Critics. John Passmore. Rutgers Univ. Press, New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A., 1978. 100 pp. $8.00. Reliable Knowledge: An Exploration of the Grounds for Belief in Science. John Ziman. Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1978. 197 pp., illus. £7.95. Reviewed by P. T. Landsberg'" The scientific view of things is, in the broadest sense, a map on which ideas and phenomena fit together. The bare fact that they fit is a guarantee of consistency. As scientists get used to a map, they begin to find their way around the phenomena. Eventually they are just like very good taxi drivers; the map has been assimilated so well, that they can show others around rapidly and efficiently without the aid of the book. Of course, after a reconstruction (e.g. Newton mechanics giving way to quantum mechanics), a new paradigm presents itself (in the words of T. S. Kuhn of the Structure of Scientific Revolutions 1962), and a paradigm-switch is required. This very briefly is also Ziman's understanding of the characteristics of scientists. He is, of course, subtler and ranges much more widely than this brief summary suggests. Also, he is very learned and gives references (which are actually not always needed) ranging from Hesse's Glasperlenspiel to Hoyle's Black Cloud. Ziman rightly emphasizes that new scientific ideas must be clear enough for other scientists to accept or to refute: The ideas must be consensible. Thereafter scientists try to attain maximum agreement: This is the search for consensuality. In his journey through the characteristics of knowledge Ziman takes the falsifiability criterion of hypotheses to task (good strategy, poor tactics, p. 35) and criticises Popper's term World 1,2 and 3 (p. 106). For artists it is of interest that he emphasizes non-verbal thinking (p. 45) and the subtle ability (possessed only by humans?) of pattern recognition (pp. 45, 96). The fallibility of science, the need for scepticism and the difficulty of formalizing the social sciences are all touched on. In fact, "Faculty of Mathematical Studies, University of Southampton , Southampton, S09 5NH, England. many insights emerge and make this a highly readable book for scientists and non-scientists alike. That no single principle emerges to help one discern when and where knowledge is reliable...