No Easy Answers: Science And The Pursuit Of Knowledge - Hardcover

Franklin, Allan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 082294250X ISBN 13: 9780822942504

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005

Synopsis

Allan Franklin offers an accurate picture of science to both a general reader and to scholars in the humanities and social sciences who may not have any background in physics. Through the examination of nontechnical case studies, he illustrates the various roles that experiment plays in science. He uses examples of unquestioned success, such as the discoveries of the electron and of three types of neutrino, as well as studies that were dead ends, wrong turns, or just plain mistakes, such as the “fifth force,” a proposed modification of Newton's law of gravity. Franklin argues that science is a reasonable enterprise that provides us with knowledge of the natural world based on valid experimental evidence and reasoned and critical discussion, and he makes clear that it behooves all of us to understand how it works.

About this title

About the Author

Allan Franklin, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is author of Selectivity and Discord: Two Problems of Experiment; Are There Really Neutrinos? An Evidential History; Can That Be Right? Essays on Experiment, Evidence, and Science; Experiment, Right or Wrong; and other books.

From the Back Cover

"Franklin's superb contributions to the history and philosophy of science over many years have provided the foundation for this excellent book, in which he makes the inner workings of science accessible to a broad audience of well-educated nonscientists. By examining wrong experiments as well as correct ones, he shows how scientists make rational arguments and follow reasonable strategies to sort out competing claims. In the process, he answers some of the most serious critics of science."--William E. Evenson, former editor, History of Physics Newsletter

"Allan Franklin is considered one of the principal authors who have brought experimentation to the limelight, analyzing the role that experiments play in the making of the science that we know today. With this instructive book, Franklin makes his sophisticated work accessible to the general reader."--Giora Hon, University of Haifa

"Allan Franklin's superb work illuminates the essential role of experiment in modern science. Choosing provocative examples, he explores the inner drama of the laboratory and its controversies, where resolutions involve so much reasoning, judgment, and skill. His engaging and lucid book reveals how theories face their trial by experiment."--Peter Pesic, St. John's College, Santa Fe

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 082294250X
• ISBN 13: 9780822942504
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272