Failure: Why Science Is So Successful

Stuart Firestein

ISBN 10: 019939010X / ISBN 13: 9780199390106

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York, 2015

About this Item

The book has just two tiny blemishes: the top right corner of the front cover and the top left corner of the back cover are each bumped just an 1/8" or so at the tip. The rest of the book is spotless and undamaged. The dust jacket is completely clean and free of wear or damage. Book and dust jacket will be bubble-wrapped and carefully packed in a sturdy box to ensure safe transit. "With Failure, biologist Stuart Firestein joins the ranks of Carl Sagan, Stephen J. Gould, Freeman Dyson, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Brian Greene as great expositors of the wonders of science, the the way it is actually done. Firestein cuts through mythology, and discusses with great lucidity and compelling examples how science is propelled forward by paradoxes: the more we learn, the more ignorance we produce: the more we produce scientific triumphs, the more they are built on failure. In this wonderfully lucid and accessible book, we discover how science depends invariably on failure, and how even its successes represent a form of failure. Anyone interested in the art of science, its social features, and how scientists make discoveries should read this book." -- Jonathan R. Cole, Columbia University.

Seller Inventory # ABH6040

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Failure: Why Science Is So Successful
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 019939010X
• ISBN 13: 9780199390106
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

The general public has a glorified view of the pursuit of scientific research. However, the idealized perception of science as a rule-based, methodical system for accumulating facts could not be further from the truth. Modern science involves the idiosyncratic, often bumbling search for understanding in uncharted territories, full of wrong turns, false findings, and the occasional remarkable success.

In his sequel to Ignorance (Oxford University Press, 2012), Stuart Firestein shows us that the scientific enterprise is riddled with mistakes and errors - and that this is a good thing! Failure: Why Science Is So Successful delves into the origins of scientific research as a process that relies upon trial and error, one which inevitably results in a hefty dose of failure. In fact, scientists throughout history have relied on failure to guide their research, viewing mistakes as a necessary part of the process. Citing both historical and contemporary examples, Firestein strips away the distorted view of science as infallible to provide the public with a rare, inside glimpse of the messy realities of the scientific process.

An insider's view of how science is actually carried out, this book will delight anyone with an interest in science, from aspiring scientists to curious general readers. Accessible and entertaining, Failure illuminates the greatest and most productive adventure of human history, with all the missteps along the way.

About the Author

Stuart Firestein is the Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, where his highly popular course on ignorance invites working scientists to come talk to students each week about what they don't know. Dedicated to promoting science to a public audience, he serves as an advisor for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's program for the Public Understanding of Science and was awarded the 2011 Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award for excellence in scholarship and teaching. He was also recently named an AAAS Fellow.