Why Beliefs Matter: Reflections on the Nature of Science [Paperback] Davies, E. Brian

Davies, E. Brian

ISBN 10: 0198704992 / ISBN 13: 9780198704997

Published by Oxford University Press, 2014

About this Item

Paperback has wear on the corners of the cover. No markings throughout with a tight binding.

Seller Inventory # 7svdp725

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Why Beliefs Matter: Reflections on the Nature of Science [Paperback] Davies, E. Brian
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198704992
• ISBN 13: 9780198704997
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

In the follow-up to his acclaimed Science in the Looking Glass, Brian Davies discusses deep problems about our place in the world, using a minimum of technical jargon. The book argues that 'absolutist' ideas of the objectivity of science, dating back to Plato, continue to mislead generations of both theoretical physicists and theologians. It explains that the multi-layered nature of our present descriptions of the world is unavoidable, not because of anything about the world, but because of our own human natures. It tries to rescue mathematics from the singular and exceptional status that it has been assigned, as much by those who understand it as by those who do not. Working throughout from direct quotations from many of the important contributors to its subject, it concludes with a penetrating criticism of many of the recent contributions to the often acrimonious debates about science and religions.

About the Author

E. Brian Davies, Department of Mathematics, King's College, London